Santa Clause is coming to town!

December has gone by so quickly. There are so many fun things going on, and I can't believe it is Christmas week!  To catch everyone up.... Ryan and I have had a great month.  We went to Berns Steakhouse (a famous restaurant to those in and out of Tampa) to celebrate our Six Month Wedding Anniversary! Everyone has raved about the restaurant and they were totally right.  We had such a yummy meal and it was just a fabulous night.  They have a dessert room upstairs so after our great dinner we took a tour of the wine cellar and then headed up to the dessert room.  The dessert room is a 50's theme with each booth being in what is kind of like an old telephone booth.  Of course dessert was delicious.  We were there for almost 4 hours! We both had our work holiday parties that weekend as well, and both were so fun.  We are very furtunate to both have great co-workers that we enjoy being with. We ended the weekend by decorating our first married Christmas Tree, and it turned out beautiful. It was fun to do together! This past weekend we celebrated a good friend's birthday and caught up with some friends.  We also went to Oviedo to see Ryan's family before the holidays.  We always enjoy seeing the kids.  They are growing up sooo fast.  I guess the biggest news we have is that we FOUND A HOUSE! We are so excited to announce that we found a house in a beautiful South Tampa neighborhood in walking distance to the Tampa Bay.  We will be moving in late January, just in time for Gasparilla!! We are so fortunate and have so much to be thankful for this Christmas.  We are looking forward to being in North Carolina on Thursday!  Hope you all have safe travels and Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you enjoy your time with your family and friends.  Look for updates after Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!

Oh December

You can tell we are staying busy, because I can't seem to even update our blog each week. I am working on being better.  We really enjoyed being home for Thanksgiving and getting to see that awesome WOLFPACK football game!! It felt good to be back in Raleigh even for the day.  Ever since getting back from North Carolina, life has been crazy for us.  Ryan has been in D.C., back for two days, then gone to Texas for a week.  Thank goodness no more traveling for a while for work.  I have missed my husband, and so has Morgan Dog. I have been satying busy with work, but still really loving it. Going to work everyday gives me pride and I feel so blessed to have such a great job, assistant, and co-workers.  Everyone has been so welcoming, and I am definitely gaining a backbone with dealing with many relays. Last weekend I helped host Cocktails For A Clause, an event put on by some of us Junior League ladies to get toys for kids who are in need of a Merry Christmas.  It was a great success, and a fun time being with friends! Ryan and I recently celebrated our Six Month Wedding Anniversary! We have been so busy that we haven't been able to celebrate yet, so tomorrow night we are going out to a romatic dinner. YAY!  I am excited for my work Christmas party tomorrow afternoon. Ryan's work party is Saturday night, and that should be a fun time too.  Between celebrating, parties, and decorating for Christmas, it is going to be a fabulous weekend! Stay tuned! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow, it has been such a busy November.  I am sorry I have not blogged in a while.... I started my fantastic job at the American Cancer Society on November 10, and that has kept me extremely busy.  I am loving my job, and it is so rewarding to work for an organization that's goals include saving lives. I have enjoyed getting together with some of my friends in Tampa this month as well.   Ryan and I went to the Homestead Nascar Weekend races this past weekend.  This was my first time watching a race live, and we had a ball. We were lucky enough to be able to be in a VIP Cabana all weekend, so it was a great first experience for me.  We then turned around Tuesday and drove to Greensboro, North Carolina for Thanksgiving.  I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be back in my hometown in my childhood home celebrating Thanksgiving.  I love Tampa, but I miss North Carolina a lot!! It is our first married Thanksgiving, and I feel so blessed for everything God is doing for Ryan and I and all of the things that I know are coming up for us in the next couple of months.  Things are really starting to come together, and that is such a wonderful thing.  I promise to be better about blogging as we approach Christmas.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sex and the City (Tampa Edition)

Hello friends! Hope you all had a wonderful end of the week and weekend! Ryan and I had a great end of the week/weekend! Thursday night I attended a Pre- Holiday Gift Market Gala at the beautiful home of Heather Weber, a new Junior League friend. Her house is on Harbor Island proper, an area that I had not been to yet. What a gorgeous neighborhood on the water! The event was lovely, and it was great to catch up with some of the Junior League ladies! We then all headed to the Gala. A cute Tampa boutique had a booth at the Holiday Gift Market and I bought a few dresses there. It was such a fun time. Every time I go out with my Tampa friends, I can't help but feel like I am in a Sex and the City movie, of course being the Charlotte of the group. Tampa is just soooo BIG CITY, fashion forward, and fun. I love it!! Friday I did my JLT shift at the HGM, then Ryan and I enjoyed a date night out watching Joey's Race. We are such a sports couple, which leads me to Saturday...... GO PACK! We were obviously thrilled with the results of the UNC game. Five years in a row is some kind of record! I guess the flag on that ship is floating around the sea somewhere (haha)! ;) After that exciting game concluded, we went to Orlando to the Wyland Art Gallery in Downtown Disney. We have a few of his pieces, thanks to our parents, and it was great to meet him in person and take a photo with him and our piece of art! We also enjoyed watching him paint one of his current paintings. It was such a neat experience, and I am excited to hopefully do it again soon. We also hope to continue to become avid collectors of art. We made it back in time to watch the Alabama game, and although it didn't turn out the way we wanted, we enjoyed watching these great teams battle it out. The SEC has some incredible talent. Sunday we went to the Greek Church, and the Archbishop from Atlanta was there. It was awesome, and we really enjoyed meeting him and taking part in that special event. We also hosted our newlywed friends from St. Pete for dinner, and met their cute new puppy. Morgan enjoyed making a new friend too. This is going to be an exciting week for me because I start my job!! I am nervous and excited all at the same time. Stay tuned for updates! :)

Halloween Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend with family this past weekend celebrating Lauren's 9th birthday and Jenna's 7th Birthday. They are growing up so fast, even in the two years that I have known them. It is so special to look at pictures of the kids over the past few years and see how much they are changing. Lauren even informed me Friday on the way to dinner that she was 56 inches. That means at the age of 9 years old she is only 5 inches shorter than Aunt Megan. Oh goodness!!  I did watch the FSU game, however I think it's safe to say that this was not the highlight of our weekend, so I am going to focus on the cute kids. I had such a fun time Trick or Treating with the kids on Sunday at UCF's Greek Village. All of the sororities and fraternities partner up and do activities and hand out candy to the kids at their homes. It was really nice, and I enjoyed seeing all of the pretty houses. We then did an entire family birthday dinner for both girls. So, this was a very low key Halloween for me and Ryan this year. We did not dress up, but we both had a great time. I enjoyed catching up with the Junior League ladies last night for the meeting and the pre and post meeting socials. I love being a part of this organization, and I have met some wonderful ladies. More updates soon! :)

Two Income Family!

I am so glad that I can officially say that I have a new job starting in November with the American Cancer Society, as the Community Representative for the Greater Tampa area. It is such a blessing to be employed, and of course Ryan is thrilled too. He did not want to have to support my expensive shoe habit solo (haha). As the Community Representative I will basically be overseeing volunteers and helping fundraise, plan, and coordinate four Relay for Life events in the Greater Tampa area. I am really excited to work for such an amazing organization with such a worthwhile cause, and I know it will be a rewarding experience for me. Thank you to everyone who has called, emailed, facebooked, etc. to congratulate me. I am extremely happy. On another note, Ryan is out of town this week in New Orleans (lucky guy I know) for work and he is having a great time. I am looking forward to 2012, when I can take some vacation time and travel with him to some of these fun places. He is presenting at this convention in NOLA on some of the things he has been researching and I know he will do a great job. I am so proud of my husband for landing this amazing job in Tampa and for everything he is doing for his field.  We are truly blessed!! I am looking forward to seeing my hubby Thursday night! Morgan Dog and I are holding down the fort while Ryan is gone. We are having some mommy puppy bonding time, which is always nice. More updates soon! :)

Junior League of Tampa Donor Cocktail

Thursday evening Ryan and I were selected to take part in the Annual Donor Cocktail honoring those who have substantially contributed to the Junior League of Tampa (we are not those people just yet...).  It was held in South Tampa at a beautiful home. We had such an amazing time. The food and drinks were delicious and we had a great time mingling and getting to know some of the other Junior League couples. Of course, I enjoyed seeing Ryan in a suit and I also enjoyed putting on my cocktail attire. It is always fun to get dressed up and go to a private event with your hubby. I hope that we will be able to attend more social events like this in the near future. As a "thank you" for coming they gave us a beautiful Reed and Barton stemmed vase. I am looking forward to using it in our home! :) Ryan's parents have also been here since Thursday night. We have really enjoyed having them with us. We have wined, dined, and Bonnie and I have even shopped. It is really nice to be able to spend time with them.  More updates soon!

Catching up!

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been keeping everyone updated. Nothing too exciting has been happening with us here at home in Tampa. I have been sick since returning back from NC (so worth it...) so other than a few dinners with friends and a Junior League meeting I have been taking it easy.  Ryan has been working hard, and trying to take care of me. To catch everyone up... Ryan had a business trip this week in Charleston starting Wednesday, so he just came back today. I missed him a bunch, but I had two interviews while he was gone so I have been busy. I think they both went well, but will not discuss them further for fear of that being bad luck, so stay tuned on that.  Our friend Jerry sent us a care package, which we got today (this is a monthly thing for him) and in it he had given me the Scotty McCreery CD. I am so excited to listen to it all the way through.  Ryan and I took a fun random trip to Orlando tonight to the Bass Pro Shop to do some shopping, and we ended up finding the Tory Burch Outlet store too. I was so excited I finally found it, but as you can imagine Ryan had some mixed feelings haha. He was definitely a good sport.  We grabbed a quick late dinner and then headed back to Tampa. I think this would be considered a date night. It was fun and random.  We are keeping our friends cat this weekend while they are away. Morgan and Grayson have met and spent time together before, however this is Grayson's first visit sans his parents.  Morgan just wants to play with him and be best friends and cuddle, but Grayson is taking a little longer to warm up to Morgan Dog.  Last night Grayson finally came out from under the bed and after a few practice runs was able to sit beside Morgan without fear of being touched.  We all three slept in Ryan and my room last night, and everything was fine. Now that Ryan is back, I think Grayson is confused, but hopefully by tomorrow we will all be back to normal. Morgan has started sticking his head and as much of his body as will fit under the bed and whining at Grayson to come out. I don't think Grayson is buying it yet! Tomorrow we are going to go to the Beach and hopefully see some friends we haven't seen in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

YAY Tuckers

What a fabulous weekend we had in North Carolina celebrating the marriage of two of our great friends, the new Mr. and Mrs. Tucker (Morgan and Andrew). We arrived on Thursday and enjoyed dinner with my parents and my cousin Caitlin and her friend. It was awesome to be in Greensboro for one night. I love being at home in the house that I grew up in, but the past few times I have been home it has only been for one night, and I always feel like it is too short!! I am looking forward to being home for several nights over Thanksgiving.  Anyways, Friday we arrived in Chapel Hill and I enjoyed a beautiful Bridal Luncheon for Morgan at 411 West. It was yummy.... All the ladies then went to get manis and pedis and that was so relaxing. I love getting pampered. What a treat!  Ryan enjoyed a day in Raleigh seeing some of his friends! The Rehearsal Dinner was held at the NC State University Club, and it was good to be back on Wolfpack soil!! We all spent the night with Morgan a the Carolina Inn Friday night and celebrated her last night as a single lady. Saturday was the wedding. It was gorgeous, and Morgan was a beautiful bride, of course! It was great to get to see and spend time with some of our closest friends, and Ryan and I both had a great time!! Sunday we had lunch with Heather and Jimmy before hopping on a plane back home to Tampa. I miss my "girls" so much and I am so excited to see them again soon. Even Ryan misses them and their husbands! We are so blessed to have such a great group of couple friends that are so close!! So, YAY Tuckers, and yay to the last wedding of 2011 for The Rindones. We ended with a BANG! :)

Gators, Girls, More Gators, and Greeks.....

I haven't posted in almost a week.... It is hard to believe! We haven't been super busy but we both enjoyed our weekend last weekend. On Friday, Ryan and two other men went Gator Hunting. This does not sound fun to me at all, however for men in Florida it is a big deal! While the men went Gator Hunting the women had a Friday Girl's Night Out. We went to this great downtown restaurant/bar called Fly Bar. It had a great vibe, and some yummy food and drinks, so we definitely will be going back.  Although the men did not catch anything they had a great time.  Saturday was just a restful day. We were both pretty tired from our Friday night fun.  We did go out Saturday night with some friends to watch the Florida/Kentucky game. I love my pack, but I will say it was different watching Florida play... I think it is all of the winning! Haha.... Sunday we went to the Greek Church, and we met some nice people there. I enjoyed being in church with Ryan.  So, a fun weekend all around, and now we have only a few days until we head to NC for the wedding of our friends Morgan and Andrew this weekend. Should be a fun weekend filled with lots of friends and family!!  I am sad we have to leave Morgan Dog in Tampa, but I know he is in good hands with our friends Merri-Ellen and Harvey! He will have a fenced in yard to run around in all weekend, so he might even be sad to come home!

Datz Junior League Cocktail Event

Ryan and I attended a Junior League event last night at Datz, one of South Tampa's popular dining spots. The event was held to advertise the new Junior League Gasparilla Cookbook, and we were able to sample recipes from the cookbook as part of the event. We really enjoyed ourselves and it was great to reconnect with some couples that we had met in August. I am so glad to now have connected with more women in Tampa. I am slowly feeling more and more at home here. Ryan of course hit it off with all of the husbands, and made some new friends too. I am getting really excited about all of the upcoming Junior League events. YAY for a fun Tuesday night. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

P.S. For those of you in Tampa or for those who plan to visit us, here is the link to Datz!
http://www.datzdeli.com/

Water Weekend

We had a great time this weekend. Ryan did some diving in Venice, FL on Saturday with his co-workers and their significant others. The Captain and I made fast friends, because I opted to bask in the sun instead. I enjoyed watching though, and I especially enjoyed seeing Ryan having fun!! We were tired when we got back home Saturday evening so we ordered Hungry Howeys and watched football. We were so glad that our WOLFPACK won too!! We love our boys! Sunday Ryan woke up at 6 AM (obviously I was still asleep) and went fishing. He caught a large red drum. He was so happy to call and report his catch to me, and I was glad to have dinner for last night! We went to the Dog Beach yesterday afternoon at Picnic Island and got some good use out of our umbrella and chairs. Morgan Dog enjoyed his time in the water and he met a few friends!! We enjoyed winding down with some red drum, shrimp, and potatoes and watching the Emmy's last night. All in all a good weekend, and we have a fun week ahead. Stay tuned for more updates!

Ryan's Birthday

Ryan had a great birthday yesterday! Although he had to work, I made sure to spoil him as much as possible. We went to lunch at Kona Grill, which is of course one of our favorite places. After our long lunch break Ryan went back to work and I proceeded to begin making the birthday feast for the birthday boy. I used the "You're Invited Back" Raleigh Junior League Cookbook (shoutout!) for everything I made, except for dessert. I am loving this cookbook. What a great Christmas present from Mom last year. So, I made Mucho Margarita's as our beverage, Asian Pork Loins, Orzo with tomato and feta, and Southern Green Beans.  I don't EVER brag about my skills in the kitchen since I don't see myself as having perfected those skills just yet, but it was DELICIOUS!! To top it off I made Key Lime Pie, which is one of Ryan's favorite pies and what he asked for this time.  Overall the birthday boy was pleased, and we enjoyed eating our fabulous dinner, watching our wedding video, and just being together.  It was a low key birthday, but my husband is a low key type of guy, so for him it was great!  I am so glad I could have the time to do all of this cooking. I am really starting to get the hang of cooking good food, so YAY Megan Rindone!! We will be going to Venice, FL this weekend where Ryan will be diving and I will be sun-bathing to continue the celebrating.  Stay tuned for info about our fun weekend!!

Weekend Re-Cap

I had such a wonderful time in Wilmington this weekend celebrating Morgan. We enjoyed lots of good seafood, a cute condo on the beach, and sun bathing in the sand. Everyone had such a good time, and of course I loved being in one of my favorite places,  Wrightsville Beach. It was also great to see the girls and catch up. I had a little trouble with my flight back, but hey what's a 5 hour delay..... I finally arrived home in the early AM, and my husband was glad to have me back home in Tampa. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone again in 3 weeks for Morgan's Wedding! Ryan spent his weekend fishing, fishing, and doing more fishing. He enjoyed his time on the water and he even caught a few!! We are excited to celebrate his birthday in a few days! :)

First Official Junior League of Tampa Meeting

I love the Junior League of Tampa, and I am so excited to get more involved. The meeting last night was great. I sat with my friend that I already knew and I met another girl who transferred in from Winston-Salem, so I was glad to meet a fellow NC girl. The ladies all seemed really nice. After the meeting there was a social at Mise En Place, which was a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to all of the activities and events coming up and meeting even more people. :)

Labor Day at home

This weekend was relaxing. Friday night we went to one of our favorite little Italian restaurants, Bellas, for dinner and then to see the movie "Crazy Stupid Love".  It was a great movie, even Ryan liked it. I would recommend it completely for a date night. Saturday we took Morgan to the Davis Island Dog Beach. He was not feeling super social so he stayed close to Mom and Dad most of the time. We were not able to watch the NC State game since it was only online at ESPN3, so we went to MacDinton's Pub and watched Football while Ryan received updates on his phone for our game.  We really did have a great time though. I love trying new places, and this was my first time at MacDintons. Of course, a fun night would not have been complete without a stop at Krispy Kreme for a "Hot Now" donut? Yum Yum!! Sunday we went to church, then went to visit The Leiss Clan and spent the afternoon and evening with them at their campground vacation spot. We had a great time, as always! Monday, Ryan and I went back to Davis Island to the people beach and just spent some time together. It was nice and quiet and relaxing. We found a great place to beach in the future. After having hot dogs and Greek coleslaw (yum), we met some of Ryan's friends out for a drink.  The weekend was jam packed with things to do, but we had a great time together!!

WOLFPACK Football and a relaixng long weekend!

I am so ready for NC State Football season! Even though Ryan and I are only going to be able to go to three games this year, I will be watching every one and cheering on my PACK!! Ryan has worn a different NC State polo to work everyday this week. His boss, who got his PhD at UNC is not a fan of this, but my proud husband is a devoted Wolfpack fan for sure.  I am sad that Russell Wilson isn't on our team this year, but I am really hoping it'll be a great season for us because we are the most devoted fans and we deserve it.  Ryan and I are staying home this weekend and relaxing at the beach, doing a date night, visiting FL family, and of course watching LOTS of football. GO PACK! It'll be nice to be home, but I am so excited to be returning to NC in 6 days to see my parents and attend Morgan's Bachelorette Weekend in Wilmington. It'll be great to be back. I will have more updates after our relaxing weekend!

In conclusion, GO PACK!!

Beautiful Weekend for Heather's Wedding

We are home after a WONDERFUL weekend in NC to celebrate Heather and Jimmy's Wedding festivities. We really enjoyed seeing our close friends and also our parents and family. Thursday we visited in Greensboro with my Aunt and Uncle, and then the Varsamis-Rindone family went to our favorite spot, PASTABILITIES!! What a way to begin our visit!! Friday was filled with wedding events. Heather's Bridal Luncheon was lovely, and the Rehearsal Dinner was so fun. We enjoyed the Blue Grass Band and being surrounded by family and friends! Saturday was of course the wedding, and Heather was such a beautiful bride. Her entrance via boat to the Lake property was awesome, and of course I cried. Everything was just so great, and I cried all day Sunday because I was so sad to leave everybody. I got spoiled this weekend having so many of the closest people to me in one place. I am excited to be back in NC in less than 2 weeks to celebrate Morgan's Bachelorette Weekend in Wilmington. Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend!

North Carolina- I am so excited!!

Ryan and I arrived safely in Greensboro this afternoon! We are so glad to be home in NC and so excited for a fun weekend ahead to celebrate Heather and Jimmy's wedding with close family and friends!! I can't wait to see everyone starting tomorrow! We had a nice evening visiting with my Aunt and Uncle and then The Varsamis-Rindones went to PASTABILITIES for dinner, so you know we were thrilled!! Yum Yum!  All of the wedding festivities start tomorrow! I am so ready for a friend reunion!! :) More updates soon! :)

Can't wait to see these girls!!

A Few Weekend Highlights

Hello everyone! Ryan and I experienced more of Tampa this weekend, which is always fun. Saturday night we enjoyed Bella's Italian Restaurant in South Tampa with some of our new friends, and it was delicious. It's definitely a place we will be re-visiting. We also went to World of Beer. I had never been, but Ryan has been a few times and we really enjoyed that. It is a very chill environment, but very similar to the Flying Saucer in that it has a great beer selection. Sunday, we went to the Greek Church, and stayed for a luncheon that they did. It was catered by a local BBQ place, and man it was good.   Ryan and I were glad to know of a good BBQ place, seeing as how we come from a big BBQ state. We are out of town a lot these days but I really love going to Church every Sunday we can.  It's a good feeling being in Gods House.  After church, we went to Davis Island and took Morgan Dog out to the dog beach there. It is so close, and beautiful with all of the sail boats and everything. Morgan enjoyed the bay. The three of us then headed to Oviedo for dinner with Ryan's extended family. It was great to see everybody and we had a wonderful time. I love Ryan's extended family, they really feel like my own family even in the short few years that I have known them.  I am so excited to be going to NC this Thursday to start the wedding festivities for Dr Heather Ellison!! She's the best friend a girl could have and I am so excited for her, and so excited to share in her special weekend as a bridesmaid, friend, and adopted sister!! It will also be great to see out friends and family too!! Good times ahead, updates again soon!

The Help is FABULOUS!

Tonight the Junior League of Tampa had a ladies night out and went to see The Help. The movie was so fabulous!! I loved it, and I am already planning to see it again. I cannot wait to read the book too and compare the story. We went to the Cinebistro, which I had never been to before tonight. What a neat place. For starters it's very urban, and the decor is awesome. The movie seats are leather recliners and they have menus at your seat for you to order drinks and dinner before the movie. They have delicious food! I will definitely be taking Ryan there soon. I enjoyed meeting a few new people and sitting with my JL friend I met a few weeks ago. I am taking Tampa life with a grain of salt and I think I am really going to enjoy living here for however long it is our home. What a fun Monday night! :)

My Birthday

Hey all! I had a great Birthday Weekend this past weekend, courtesy of my wonderful husband. My actual birthday was pretty relaxed. Ryan did sneak away from work to take me to a nice birthday lunch and he and I attended an outdoor concert in Downtown Tampa that evening. The big celebration began Friday when we arrived at the Wilderness Lodge at Disney for the weekend.  I loved the Wilderness Lodge.  It is extremely nice, and people like Bill Clinton have stayed there, which was neat. We ate my birthday dinner that night at Ohana, at the Polynesian Resort at Disney. I have not been there since I was 7 years old, and it was soooo yummy and such a fun atmosphere. We even had a perfect view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks that evening from our table.  Saturday was spent at the Magic Kingdom. Although Minnie and I never had the opportunity for girl time, I had a blast with Ryan. We did all of our favorite rides there and enjoyed the lights show that evening with many of the characters. I loved the "Liberty" section. I enjoy watching a documentary on the presidents past and present.  I am such a history dork sometimes, especially when it comes to politics!!  Sunday we just relaxed by the resort pool and took in the rays and rested up.  It was a busy weekend, but I had such an amazing time and it was so sweet of Ryan to coordinate the whole thing for my birthday! I am a very lucky wife!!  Morgan Dog spent his weekend at a Pet Hotel, and he was not a happy camper.  He was so thrilled to be picked up on Sunday.... I think we will definitely try a different place next time, but hey we are learning.  Since we arrived back in Tampa, nothing too exciting has happened. We are just trying to weather Hurricane Emily and I am hoping for a few sunny Florida days this week.  More updates soon! :)

Heather's Batchelorette Weekend in Charleston and the start of my Birthday Week

This weekend was so fun. I love Charleston, and I was so excited to travel there this past weekend to help celebrate with Heather! We ate some good food, and had such a wonderful time. I am so excited for Heather and Jimmy, and she had a great weekend.  I can't wait to visit Charleston again, and hopefully next time bring Ryan because he is a big fan too. The drive home was rough and a little long, but I was so glad to arrive home and start my Birthday week with my husband and my Mom who traveled here to Tampa Sunday afternoon. We went out to dinner at our neighborhood Italian restaurant and it was delicious and a great way to start the week.  I am so glad to have my mom here with me until Thursday (my birthday). We had a great girls day Monday lunching, shopping, visiting and exploring South Tampa, and ending the evening at The Grape for some wine. We have a full day planned today and Wednesday too. Mom is having a fun time here, and the only thing that would be better is having Dad here too, but I will see him in a few weeks, so it'll be okay. It was great to also come home to my husband. I missed him so much this past weekend, and he is definitely my partner. He is awesome and I am so grateful to him for all that he does for me. Of course, I am thrilled to be back home with the best puppy man in the world, YES Morgan Dog. He was so happy to see me and the feeling was mutual. I just love that puppy like he was a real child. He definitely is like a child to me and the only one I am ready for right now. More updates soon! :)

Fort Wilderness and Camp Rindone

Ryan and I had a wonderful weekend at Disney's Fort Wilderness with his family. We love going to any part of Disney. We are both so glad to be so close to Disney now. We grilled out, did Fantasia Golf, watched fireworks, and just relaxed! I cannot wait to go back in 2 weeks to the Wilderness Lodge and Magic Kingdom for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with my hubby!! We then took Lauren, Jenna, and Evan back to Tampa with us for a few days so that we could enjoy them. We have had a blast doing the pool, watching movies, eating mexican out. We love to spend time with these kids and we again feel lucky to have them so close now. Last night Ryan kissed me in the kitchen and told me he never had doubts that I would be a great mother, but now he's seen it first hand and knows I am going to be an amazing mom. I about cried, but having the kids with us is great practice for us one day (not now)!! For now we are just really enjoying being a great Aunt and Uncle. Happy Tuesday everyone! :)

Harry Potter and Skinny Girl Margaritas

Happy Wednesday everyone! It has been a pretty uneventful week so far... But two wonderful things for this week: The new Harry Potter Movie and Skinny Girl Margaritas! Ryan and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie when I got back from North Carolina Sunday evening. It was SOOOO good!! The last movie (Part I) was good, but kind of sad and I thought this one was really great. It had sad elements but the overall ending was a great one. If you haven't seen it definitely go see it! Also, I re-discovered Skinny Girl Margarita's. Bethenny Frankel was a member of the "Real Housewives of New York". I am such a huge fan of most of the Housewives shows (excluding Atlanta). She does a skinny brand, which features some of the things we love for less calories. The Skinny Girl Margarita is delicious for 1/5 of the calories. I bought a bottle or it and I am enjoying it a lot! I am a fan. It is nice to be able to enjoy a beverage in the summer and not feel like you are gaining weight!!

A Beautiful Saturday in Shelby

Today Mom and I headed up to Shelby to the Owls Eye Winery to celebrate Miss Heather's upcoming wedding.  The winery was very nice and had beautiful views of the mountains.  I cannot wait to take Ryan there when we are back in Shelby.  Heather had a great time today. I enjoyed visiting with Heather, Hillary, Mrs. Terri, and Bonnie, and of course spending time with Mom. Today was a great day and although I was sad to see it end I am excited to be in Charleston in 2 weeks to continue celebrating with Heather! :)

FLORIDA Drivers License

I am proud to admit I have my Florida Drivers License as of Wednesday, so I am coming closer and closer to being a full Florida Resident. I wish that the experience was fun, but poor Ryan took a long lunch and waited with me for what seemed like a year for me to get my new license. However, the guy that helped me was extremely nice, and I think he liked me so it wasn't horrible. I celebrated with a late lunch/early happy hour with a friend at Kona Grill. Having my new license was so helpful for my trip to NC on Thursday, because I no longer had to bring my marriage license with me to board the plane. I did however get patted down by a woman in her 40's. She explained that she would have to "feel me up" and asked if i'd like a private search... I said "no thank you, I would just like to get through this line" in a southern accent.  I survived and arrived safely in Greensboro just in time for a girls lunch with mom.  I am enjoying being home in Greensboro, and I am so excited to help host a shower for Heather tomorrow in Shelby!! I am so glad to have some of my closest friends getting married this summer too, and I cannot wait to help them celebrate like they were able to help me back in May. Heather is one of the best people I know so I am thrilled to celebrate tomorrow with my best friend! I miss Ryan and Morgan Dog, but they seem to be doing some male bonding together in my absence, and although they miss me I know they will have a fun weekend together! I will update again soon! Happy Friday to everyone! :)

Relaxing Weekend

We had our first weekend at home in a while, and it was really nice not to have any definite plans and to be able to just enjoy Tampa for the weekend together.  Friday we did Happy Hour at The Pub with some of Ryan's co-workers, which was nice.  It was good to get to meet and see them again.  Saturday we went down to South Tampa and took Morgan Dog to our new favorite doggy boutique "Downtown Dogs" and got him a delicious treat, then we headed next door to the Wine Exchange and enjoyed some drinks and an appetizer on what was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I just love how South Tampa is so dog friendly. After that we went shopping for some new condo additions (new pillows, rugs, lamps) and we were hugely successful in finding some great new items. Ryan was so patient with me, and it was a long process but everything looks great. It is nice to be settling in.... However, I can't help but think that we are going to have to start packing back up to move to South Tampa in no time at all.... Oh well, we are really excited to move and also to give Morgan more of a play area.  It will be well work packing up, but for now I definitely want our first home together to feel like "home" and it's really shaping up! Sunday we went to church and then headed out to Fort Desoto Beach, where they have a part of the beach that is dog friendly.  We met our friend's Ryan and Erika there and we all had a great time.  I am proud to report that Morgan Dog stayed in the water with us most of the time and swam with us without using his life jacket. I was so proud, and so thankful that he is starting to get used to the water. I know Ryan is thrilled too, being such a "fish" himself! All in all it was a great weekend, and I am excited to see what this week holds. I hope to be getting my Florida drivers license, and Ryan and I are getting those thank you notes written. I will have more updates soon! :)

Wrightsville Beach for July 4th

Ryan, Morgan Dog, and I headed up to NC for the 4th of July weekend.  It is a tradition for my family to spend the July 4th weekend together in  Wrightsville Beach and so when Ryan told me we could make the trip I was sooo happy.  We started out on Thursday afternoon and spent the night in Savannah that night.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there we were too tired to enjoy Savannah, but we are going to make that another trip.  We got to Wilmington on Friday and we left the beach only once the entire weekend.  We did a lot of beaching, boating, eating, and card playing for the whole weekend and it was wonderful!  The one time we did leave the beach was to head to Kenansville (the eastern NC country) for a family get together. So in true Swinson/Bellamy fashion we rented a 14 passenger van, which got the 14 family members at the beach to and from the reunion.  It was so much fun. I felt like we were on a party van. This is definitely the way to travel with fun family members!!  We enjoyed seeing our other family too!! I really can't say this enough, but I really feel I have the best family in the world.  We are so close and I just loved getting to spend the weekend with some of my favorite family members.  Ryan and I were sad to leave Tuesday, but we had a great time and we were definitely glad we made the trip.  Wrightsville Beach will always be my favorite beach and I cannot wait to go back.  Hope everyone had a great July 4th!

Catching Up!

I am feeling more and more at home in Tampa every day. I met with a really nice girl from the Junior League of Tampa this week for lunch and had the best time in South Tampa at an adorable restaurant Pane Rustica!! She took me to Davis Island to see the Tampa JL Headquarters and surprise surprise it's completely Southern! White brick, on the water, beautiful flowers, etc.  She also set me up with my first WOLFPACK friend in Tampa who then connected me to the NCSU Alumni Chapter of Tampa. So now Ryan and I have a whole new network of PACK fans, which we are so happy about.  We also got a chance to have dinner at Kona Grill, one of our favorite Tampa restaurants with two of Ryan's friends from School who recently got engaged and moved to our area. It was great catching up with them.  I arrived in Greensboro Thursday and Mom and I took off on our many post wedding errands and girls time.  We are having a blast! Now if Ryan can just get here..... This is not the first time his flight to Greensboro has been delayed.  We are so excited to attend the wedding of a dear friend of mine, Rachel who is getting married tomorrow. What a wonderful weekend at home. More updates soon!!

P.S. Here is a picture of the JL of Tampa Headquarters:

First Weekend Home

This past weekend was our first weekend at home since moving to Tampa together.  It was a really fun and relaxing one.  Friday night Ryan took me on a dinner date to Bungalow Bar and Grill in South Tampa. The food and drinks were GREAT and it was such a neat atmosphere. We really enjoyed it, and I know we will be going back.  Saturday we decided to go explore Tampa.  It is a large city and we wanted to pick an area where we would like to move.  We fell in love with South Tampa.  Everything about it was just amazing and so Southern and we had such a wonderful time exploring.  Hyde Park is very similar to Cameron Village in Raleigh and it has some great shopping and restaurants.  We ate at a great Wine Bistro. YUM...  Oh and did I mention that South Tampa in located around the Tampa Bay. What a gorgeous area!!  After that we took a trip to St. Pete Beach, and got our feet wet.  It was a beautiful scene.  Sunday was very relaxing.  We missed our Dad's ( I cannot wait to see mine Thursday) but we went to church at the Greek Church in Hyde Park and then we headed to Fort Disoto Beach.  We enjoyed just relaxing and walking along the beach and then we topped the night off with Mexican and our neighborhood Mexican Restaurant.  What a wonderful weekend of exploring!!

Honeymoon

We had such a wonderful honeymoon trip to Jamaica.  The Sandals at Ocho Rios was very nice and we met some great friends there.  Jamaica is such a beautiful place, and we loved seeing a lot of the sites.  Ryan enjoyed diving a couple of times and we both has a blast on our cruise and hiking the Dunns River Falls.  Hiking the Falls was such a great experience and one we will always treasure.  Being in a tropical location together away from the real world was wonderful for us.  We were a little sad to land back in Tampa, but we look forward to our next trip together..... <3

Our Beautiful Wedding

Ryan and I were so blessed to be surrounded by all of our closest family and friends for what was the best day of our lives thus far. Our wedding and reception were both absolutely beautiful and we feel that it exceeded our expectations immensely!  I had a vision in my head of the entire weekend and I was just so overwhelmed with how much better it was.  Everything was just perfect!  It is a day and a weekend we will never forget and we were so glad that everyone was able to share this special time with us and join in on all of the fun festivities. I am so excited to get the pictures back and have a way to look back on all of the wonderful memories made. :)