Destin - Day 4

This morning found HK & I getting up early to take Jen & Camille to the airport. Jen had to work the next day & Camille had 3 little ones she needed to get back to. Despite a minor glitch in the Garmin & 2 nervous girls, we were able to get them to the airport with about 30 min to spare! We were all sad to see them go early but were so grateful they were able to come along!

Once HK & I got back, the girls decided we were going to go para-sailing for the day. It was a 1st for most of us & on my "bucket list" of things to do so I was very excited to get to try it!

We made our way back down to the harbor, where we hopped onto a boat, made our way out into the water & ventured 400 ft up in the air.

First up, Kari & Deanna:

Then it was time for me, HK & Deb:

 

I was amazed at how peaceful & quiet it was up there in the air & the view was gorgeous! I am so glad that we went & that I got to check it off the list!

Later that day we ended up back down at the harbor for a sunset catamaran cruise around the Destin harbor. Here we are getting on the boat:

And here we all are posing with our Captain Rex who was from Australia:

This is where we spent the majority of our evening:

If you look below my feet, this is truly the color of the water as Destin is often referred to as The Emerald Coast:

And here are some other fun photos from the evening:

On our cruise, we were able to see dolphins, starfish & many other kinds o fish in the clear water! The sunset cruise was absolutely beautiful & I highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting this area!

It was my last evening in Destin with the girls which was bittersweet. I was sad to be leaving them as they had one more day on the beach together but happy & excited also because tomorrow I would be heading to Wisconsin to see my adorable nephews & meet my new niece Jensen. 

We spent the rest of our evening enjoying a beverage, eating leftovers, cleaned up the condo, packed, looked at all our photos all while reminiscing over what fun we had over the past 4 days.

It has been a fun, much-needed, well-deserved, wonderful time with these girls & I can not wait for our next trip together! Thanks for all the memories ladies! 

Love these girls for life :)

Destin - Day 3

Happy 30th Birthday Kari!

Surprise #4

HK, Deanna & myself woke up early & ran to the grocery store to get a few things for Kari's b-day breakfast! When she woke up, we all surprised her with singing happy birthday, a lit up chocolate cake & mimosa's! She was definitely surprised & loved it all!

(I apologize for the blurry pics! HK was running my camera & unfortunately she just isn't HT behind the camera :)

This cake was dee-lish - so chocolatey & melt-in-your-mouth-moist!

 

We spent the rest of the day on the beach soaking in the sun, sharing a few beverages & hanging with the birthday girl!

By late afternoon, we had all decided we had enough sun exposure for the day so we all headed back & got ready to take Kari out for a celebratory birthday dinner!

We drove down to the Harbor & ate at a fun restaurant called Harry T's & we all enjoyed some fresh seafood. After dinner, we strolled along the boardwalk & popped in/out of little shops, watched the sunset & all the boats along the marina. Such a fun evening!

(Camille, Deb, HK, Jen, Deanna, Kari, HT)

 

This cute little shop had stuffed bulldogs so I of course had to get a pic :)

I just had to get a pic of this boat named Anastasia for all my girlfriends who have or are reading the Fifty Shades trilogy! lol

By the end of the evening, Kari had said that it had been the bestest Birthday ever so I must say we did a good job of making it memorable! It has been such fun times hanging out with these girls & making memories that will last a lifetime!

Destin - Day 2

After a late night, we all did a little sleeping in, had a great breakfast & then made our way down to the beach. Here is a pic where we spent most of our day:

 And no it is not a postcard. Gorgeous isn't it?? 

Our condo is right behind us! See, I told you it was the perfect location!

Deanna, HK, Deb & Camille spent some time on the wave-runners...

While the rest of us enjoyed the view with our toes in the sand...

Half way through the day, Camille thought it would be a fun idea to get some "glamour shots" of us on the beach. A few of us grumbled about the idea, but after seeing the photos we are SO happy we all participated because they turned out super cute:

That little stinker Jen always manages to position herself in between the Heather's - she just LOVES her "Heather Sandwich" :)

After a long day in the sun, we headed back to the condo, got cleaned up & then Camille & I made a Mexican feast for us all. Camille brought her hispanic roots into the kitchen & made us her grandmother's sopa de rice & salsa recipe - which I am SO excited to now have - while I helped make beef tacos with all the fixings! Jen had made a 7 layer dip earlier in the day which helped complete our meal & everything was SO good. Recipes coming soon to my recipe blog :)

We stuffed ourselves full of mexican yummi-ness & then spent the rest of the evening playing games, enjoying a few cherry-limeade beverages whipped up by Deanna & shared many stories & laughs!

Good times with such wonderful girlfriends!

Destin - Day 1

Destin, FL - here we come :) 

 I have been counting down the day's to this girl's trip ever since we all planned it! The ladies going on this trip with me are life-long girlfriends I have met through my job. All but one of them have moved on to other positions at other hospitals but we have always kept in touch & remained close. We planned our first girl's trip together to Vegas in 2009. Then 3 years later we planned this beach trip & there is already talk of going on a cruise in 2014 for our next trip. Unfortunately, out of the group there would be two girls who were unable to join us - Jen & Marlo :(

Between Heather (HK) & I, we had many surprises planned for the girls this week & couldn't wait to share them all! Little did I know, HK even had a surprise for me...

I got up super early & met up with Deb, Heather & Camille & we all made it to the airport in time for our 7:40am departure to Houston, TX. As we were sitting at the gate, I look over to my right & see our friend Jen standing there. At first I thought she had just ran into us & that she was traveling somewhere with her hubby. As I got up to hug her & say hi, I asked what she was doing there & she said "going to the beach with the girls". At that moment I realized she was coming with us :) 

Surprise #1 HT!! 

I immediately got tears in my eyes, gave her a huge hug & was SO excited she would be joining us. HK was the only one who knew Jen was coming with & I can't believe they both pulled off the surprise - those girls are sneaky!

(Me, Jen & HK - what Jen likes to call a "Heather Sandwich")

We all boarded the plane & made our way to Houston, TX where we were to switch planes. Everyone was hungry so we all stopped at one of the restaurants to eat before our next flight. While we were eating, HK & I said we had to go to the restroom but really we were in search of surprise #2 - our girlfriend Deanna - who was sitting at our gate & had NO clue we were all on the same flight to Panama City Beach together. We spotted her immediately & tried to sneak up on her but unfortunately she saw us coming & couldn't believe we were there! We all made our way back to the restaurant & shortly after, Deanna walked up to surprise the rest of the girls - so fun!! 

The plane ride to Panama City Beach was filled with chit-chat, catching up, laughter, pics, beverages & we seemed to be back on the ground in no time. We met up with our 7th member of the group, Kari who flew in from Chicago, picked up our rental van & were excited to make our way to the condo & the beach.

Just a short 50 minute drive & we arrived to our awesome condo:

It was everything we had hoped it would be & then some. Awesome location, plenty of room for 7 people, clean, lavishly decorated, fully gated community, right on the beach....just perfect. We even had a bar/restaurant named Pompano Joe's right across the street that made the BEST frozen drinks! We may or may not have indulged in these daily :) 

We ended up having dinner there, enjoying some fresh seafood, frozen beverages, a live band & the sounds of the ocean right behind us.

After dinner, half of us headed back to the condo while the other half hit the grocery store to get food & adult beverages for the week. After we got back & put everything away, we all got ready for a night on the town to celebrate Kari's birthday - as she was turning the big 3-0 on Monday! 

Deanna & I had made plans earlier in the month to make this a 30th birthday that Kari would never forget!

Cue surprise #3!

We decided to surprise the girls with some "accessories" to wear out on the town. I had made each girl a bedazzled tank top that had "Destin" in rhinestones across the chest & a set of black/rhinestone flip flops right underneath. You can't really see the front of them in these pics but they were super cute, the girl's loved them & we can wear them again throughout the summer. 

We also bought fun fluorescent wigs & lei's for each girl & Jen even brought fun glasses which totally completed the look! Everyone loved the idea & we had so much fun taking pics with all our 'craziness' on :) The birthday girl Kari is in the white wig & black tank top:

 

Jen in between her "Heather Sandwich" :)

We ended up going to a local beachfront bar called AJ's & had a GREAT time! Those people didn't know what to think when our group of 7 walked in! There was a live band, strange looks by the crowd, lots of booty shaking, people asking to take pictures with us, dance-off contests & so much fun had by all!

 (HT & HK)

It was definitely a birthday celebration Kari will never forget :)

Vacation has begun...

The blog is going to be neglected for awhile as I will be MIA for the next 10 days! This girl is headed to Destin, FL for a little beach-getaway with 5 of my nearest & dearest girlfriends. In roughly 7 hours I will be lounging on one of the chairs above with my toes in the sand & a drink in my hand!

Can. Not. Wait.

After 5 days there, I will head north to Wisconsin to see my sister, her family & FINALLY get to meet, hold & snuggle with my new niece Jensen :) 

I will be back Monday, May 7th with lots of pics & stories to tell so until then...

Game Night

Last night the neighborhood girls gathered around at our hostess Michelle's house for another monthly game-night ritual. Things were a little more "low-key" than last months get-together held at my house as a little less alcohol was consumed & by 10pm all the girls were calling it a night. 

Regardless, we all managed to enjoy an evening of fun, good food, lots of laughs & even ended up playing a couple of games for once!

Definitely good times with good friends :)

DIY - part 2

Household project #2 - replace an external door

After we had replaced the sink, the next morning Shane was on a "fix it" roll & when I woke up he said to me "Want to fix the door today?" 

After spending the majority of my Saturday helping him with the sink, I really didn't want to spend my entire Sunday replacing an exterior door but I knew it had to be done & the hubby was in the mood to do it so I sucked it up & we conquered the door - together.

We have lived in this house for the past 8 years now & over the years we have been finding out how crappy of a job the crew did building it. If we could sell it tomorrow & not lose our ass on it we would in a skinny minute but unfortunately, like most homeowners we are stuck - that & we don't want to lose our ass :) So the only option we have is to sink the money into it & fix all the "problems" with it. 

For the last year, our external door to the deck was leaking when it rained - even after we put a storm door on it. Looking around the outside of the door we could not figure out where the water was coming from. We were fearing tons of damage, rotted wood & lots of mold inside the walls once we tore the door frame out so it was finally time to face our fear & assess the damage. 

This is the door we were about to tear out. Once we removed the internal door & storm door, the pics below is the water damage we found:

Upper left hand corner of the moldy, rotted out door jamb where we later figured out is where the water was getting in:

The bottom right-hand corner of the internal door jamb where the water from pic above was settling:

Bottom left of the door on the inside where you can see moldy, crumbled sheet rock which was behind the trim:

I know it looks bad but honestly we thought it was going to be much, much worse. When it came time to pull the door jamb out, I heard Shane say some "choice" words. Turns out the idiots who built the house didn't nail or screw the door jamb to the frame so it slid right out. No wonder we had all this damage!? Who doesn't secure the jamb to the frame - seriously??

The door jamb is out & the frame is exposed. Bubba supervised the entire project & thought his "Papa" did a great job :)

We assessed the door frame & it seemed there was little to no damage which was a HUGE relief so it looks like it was just the jamb that was ruined. We were able to continue the job without much trouble once we got to this point.

Shane got the new door in place, made sure it was level & nailed it to the frame - as it SHOULD have been done. Then he insulated the gaps around the new door & project #2 was almost complete.

All that is left to do now is buy new trim for around the door on the inside & put the storm door back on. We had a couple of days where it had rained so we were able to test out Shane's strong work & guess what? NO LEAKS!! Hoping the leaky problem is solved & our door last's a long, long time.

Onto project #3 :)

DIY - part 1

Awhile back I had posted about how we have several projects around the house to do but we have either been too busy, too lazy or too unmotivated to start them. Heck, it was SO long ago that I wrote that post that I can't even find the original date I posted it. Anyways, this past weekend we finally started to attack the list that has been growing & growing over the past year.

Household project #1: the kitchen sink

For the past 6 months our faucet has been leaking around the base & even though Shane would tighten it often, it still continued to leak. Then two weeks ago our garbage disposal started leaking. So on Saturday morning, out of the blue (because that is how my husband suggests/does things) we made a trip to Home Depot for a new disposal.

We were there only 10 minutes & had a new disposal picked out. Then I suggested we "look" at the faucets - since we need to eventually replace it. While looking at those I then mentioned to Shane for the 100th time how I hate the sink, it's not deep enough to do dishes & the silver on it was started to look stained & since we were already going to be tearing out the disposal & faucet we might as well replace everything.

Surprisingly it didn't take much convincing from me to replace it all so we spent the next hour picking out a new sink & faucet. To say I was excited was an understatement & yes, it was over a new sink :) It's the little things...

And as usual, for us a quick trip to Home Depot for one item that costs $89 always turns into this along with a price tag of $500+ 

We decided on a shiny black, 9" deep sink & a Moen brushed nickel faucet. We got it all home & it didn't take long to tear out the old sink & all it's parts. In just a couple of hours, we had the new sink, faucet & disposal all put together & ready for operation. I must say that I am SO proud of my hubby & how "handy" he is around the house with all these projects we have done. We always work very well together - despite some slight bickering - and we managed to complete this project without one argument.

So without further adieu, here are pics of our project:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I absolutely LOVE it & it looks so nice with all the black appliances. I may or may not have done dishes in my new sink at least 10 times since Saturday :)

Household project #2 coming soon...

Hot Air

We have had some gorgeous weather here these past couple of weeks & I have enjoyed having the furnace turned off, the windows open & cool evenings on the patio. 

Tonight I was in the bedroom folding laundry enjoying the cool breeze coming through the window when I heard a strange noise coming from outside. Shane ran upstairs & asked me "Do you hear that? What in the heck is that?" I listened more closely for a minute & instantly recognized the sound of propane burners!

Hot air balloons!!

We ran outside & sure enough right above our house we saw this:

2 hot air balloons floating by & a few minutes later a 3rd balloon came flying by. They were so close that the passengers in the baskets were waving at us saying hello & we could clearly understand what they were saying.

They ended up landing in our subdivision in a few empty lots just 2 blocks away.

I LOVE hot air balloons - they are just so peaceful to watch floating in the sky. Me & my friend Jill actually purchased tickets to go up on a hot air balloon ride which we will be doing next month. Looking SO very forward to that & sharing my experience & pics with you all.

Warning: Cuteness ahead

My sister sent me these pics on Facebook today & they are TOO precious not to share with you all - even though it clearly says "do not copy" across the pics! Their photographer, Hea.ther Lo.ng did an amazing job & I can't wait to see the rest of their photos when I visit them in a few weeks! Here is a sneak peek!

I may or may not be a bit biased, but I think I just might have the cutest niece & nephews ever!

Is this pic of my niece not adorable? LOVE that little crocheted hat - perfect for Easter!

And how cute are these two??

My sister & her husband definitely produce some super cute kids! They are so stinkin' cute I could just eat them up :)

3 more weeks....

Outta Control

So I may or may not be out of control when it comes to shopping for my niece Jensen. She is only 9 days old & so far I have bought all this:

I just can't help myself - little girls are just so much fun to shop for! She is definitely one spoiled little girl already :)