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!