Florida May 2010

Jonathan and I took a WONDERFUL and well deserved vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida! We left on Saturday morning and drove to Foley, AL. For any of you that don't know about Foley, it has the biggest and best outlet mall that I have ever seen! We stop there every year when we are on our way to Florida. So we shopped then spent the night in Foley. Then we got up on Sunday, put on our bathing suits, and headed the 2 hours to PCB. We couldn't check in until later that afternoon so we headed to the beach and hung out under the pier. I have to say that I have the BEST sister and brother-in-law in the world. Thanks to Rhonda and Lee for letting us use your timeshare! It was awesome. Maybe next year we can all go together! I was so worried that Evan and Carley might try to make an early arrival while we were in Florida so I am pleased that they decided to stay put! lol We took lots of pics so here we go......

This was under the pier when we got there on Sunday!

It is a pet friendly part of the beach. This little guy came up to me while I was chillin' under the pier. He is an English Bulldog and was just so sweet. I regretting playing with him later, when I began sneezing. Go figure.

Our resort

The pool (with Tiki Bar) was directly below us. We were on the 19th floor so we had some pretty awesome views. On Sunday night, we were sitting on the balcony about 9 pm and all of the sudden we heard what we thought were cannons. We looked down toward the pier and ended up getting to watch THE BEST fireworks show that we have ever seen. It lasted for a long time and they were huge. It was a great unexpected surprise. We still don't know what they were celebrating but we didn't care!

The view to the right of our balcony. You can see the pier where the fireworks were launched.

The view to the left....ok so notice the black things in the water to the bottom right....

...sting rays!!! They were there all day everyday. This was the biggest school of them that we saw all at once. People would be in the water and the rays would just swim within 5 feet of them. Needless to say, I was always on the lookout for them. Some swimmers would go toward the rays. Dummies! I did however, see 2 jellyfish while I was in the water. Not cool!

Beautiful sunset

We had a great time on the beach. Like the song says, toes in the water, toes in the sand, cold drink in my hand, life is good to me! (or something along those lines anyway!) I couldn't agree more. Here are some pics of our days at the beach.

A nice lady took our picture.

PEACE....

LOVE....

AND CRABS!!! LOL
(some kid caught this crab in the water)

This was our last night in Panama City Beach. We ate at a place that was outside and right on the beach. Notice I am eating crab legs! YUMMY!
(NOTE: The lady behind me in this picture was SO VERY drunk. She had her kid and his friend with her. She ended up getting thrown out of the place. She had on a dress and lets just say that she wasn't worried about being ladylike! I felt really sorry for the kids!)

We had the best time and we can't wait for the next beach trip. If it wasn't for us being so far from family and friends, I would SO transfer to the corp. office and live down there. But I could never be that far away from everyone. Stay tuned for Memorial Day weekend pics on the next post.

House Remodel

We have been very busy the last 10 months working on the remodel of the "man cave!" This past weekend, I finally feel as if we are getting somewhere! Jonathan and I have worked on this house every free weekend for the last 10 months. Either the yard, painting, the man cave....always something. But I love knowing that in the end, we will be able to say that we have done it ourselves. And we will get a big return when we do decide to sell.

The people that had the house years ago, filled in the carport to make an extra room. When the girl before us remodeled, she didn't touch this room. Hence, the "man cave!" At first we were going to make a garage and then we decided to not give up that square footage. The room is on its way to becoming our new drop down den. I am posting pics from start to finish so everyone can see our progress. We are very proud! I can't wait until all of our friends and family that haven't seen our house get to come and visit. And for all of you that have to see the finished project!

This was what the house looks like from the front for now. That awful stone will soon be gone!

I guess they decided to quit painting! Isn't this just terrible!

This is the first stone we took out! Actually, I got to demo the first stone!

Jonathan getting started on the top. I was afraid to get the ones on top! Thought they may fall on me!

I started here then let Jonathan take over.

Making progress

We were glad to find that there was a wood frame. We thought before we started getting the stone out that it may have just been one layer. Poor Jonathan and Smiley (Jonathan's stepdad) toted most of the stone. We are keeping to make flowerbeds later. I have A TON of stone piled up now!

Smiley tearing down the chimney!

All gone....

...and boarded up! They fixed the roof where the chimney was too!

A few weeks later, Smiley came back and they tackled another section!

Then last weekend, Jonathan and I started framing up the new interior wall!

We are making the new wall even with the brick wall. Now there will be an overhang on the outside and the whole outside wall will be flush. We are going to do siding where the stone was/is.

Halfway there!

Hopefully, after vacation and the arrival of Rhonda's twins, we will get to spend the summer finishing up the "man cave" project. Then we will start on the privacy fence! Poor Jonathan, I am going to work him to death. I love DIY!

We are bloggers now!!!

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now but just couldn't think of a good name. Since most everyone calls me TP now, I have decided on TP's Teepee! (thanks mom for the idea) I am not quite sure why I am starting a blog since we don't have kids yet, but thought someone out there may be interested in Jonathan and I and our crazy lives. lol

Jonathan and I have been working on our house more than anything lately. We bought our 1st home in July 2009 and have been doing upgrades (very slowly) since. We are converting the "man cave" into a drop down den. This is a huge project that we have decided to tackle ourselves instead of paying someone else to do it! It is really hard for us to justify paying someone $50 an hour in labor to do what we can do ourselves. It will be worth it in the end.

The other exciting event we are awaiting is the arrival of Rhonda and Lee's babies! They have finally picked names. Evan Wyatt and Carley Fran! We can't wait to meet them. Rhonda hopefully has about 7 weeks left, although she may argue with the hopefully part! lol Bless her heart....she is so tired and said she thinks she might explode! But I think she looks beautiful. We had a baby shower for her this past weekend in Fayetteville and she got a lot of great stuff! Mom, Nanny, Aunt Pam, and Aunt Nanette also came up for the shower! We had a house full. Poor Lee was way out numbered!

The diaper cakes I made!

Just precious!!

Me and Rhonda

The family minus Nanny

Rhonda's KD friends

Nanny and Becca! I just love this picture!