HoLiDAy tRAveLs

Only 2 more days left on this rock, then to Orlando for 2 weeks!! Can't wait to spend Christmas and New Years with our friends and family this year!! 
When I leave on Tuesday, Remie is coming with me. It will be her last day living in Nassau with us. It's sad and it breaks my heart but I know she'll be ok with Craig and she'll have people around all the time, a big back yard to run in and lots of love. I wish we could keep her, she's a crazy insane dog with lots of energy but she's also very loving. She just wants to play all the time and run around outside, so in a year or so when she's a little older and calmer, she's going to be a really cool dog and sadly we'll miss out on that. At least we'll get to see her when we come home and hopefully she'll remember us!
On a happier note, we're so excited to be able to come home for 2 weeks this year!! We'll be home for Christmas AND New Years! We weren't sure if we were going to be able to, so this is exciting! It doesn't feel like Christmas here, it's not cold and there's hardly any decorations, so home with our family will make it feel like Christmas should. We've planned on going to a Magic game, Darin's parents are having a holiday party and donut night for New Years, which we haven't been home in 2 years for that!!
I assume my next post will be after Christmas, it gets a little hectic at home and I can't ever find time to blog, but here's a little bit of last year...

WiNTeR cRUisE

SUCESS!!! The cruise last week with my aunt Robin, cousin Sarah and her friends Courtney and Stephanie was a blast! Unlike the usual cruise where everyone drinks the whole time, these girls definitely knew how to relax, they work long weeks so I forgave them for not keeping up for 5 days :) I flew over to Florida on Friday afternoon and we left Saturday. The cuise went to Jamaica, which is somewhere I haven't been so that was pretty cool and then to Cayman, which is somewhere I love, so that was pretty awesome too. In Jamaica we went to the Dunn's river falls, which by the time you're done 900ft of climbing, wearing corny water shoes and getting splashed with freezing cold water it's actually a great experience. We rode on a catamaran out there and back, which just so happened to be playing loud music along side free rum drinks. The ride back was a little rough which made dancing and drinking at the same time look so not cute. The next day we headed to Cayman, visited the pawn shop, shopped at Guy Harvey, got our autographs from him and a picture with him and headed to Margaritaville until we had to be back on the boat. The next day at sea I was sure to get up at 8am and save seats on the deck, then head back to bed for 2 more hours....but it was perfect, our seats were still there at 11am!!! That night Stephanie and I attempted the tradition of the "last night". That means you either stay up all night OR sleep out on the deck under the stars. We couldn't stay up all night so we tried to sleep on the deck....from 2am to 5am we were cocooned with our pillows in our comforters. It was soooo windy and we ended up so cold we had to go back to the room and sleep, only to get up at 7am to get off the boat. It was so great to see my cousin and aunt who I don't usually get to see much of when i'm home, but a whole week made up for lots of lost time. Thanks for inviting me!!

As usual, I have a video in progress for this trip, i'll post it to my youtube page on the right of my blog when it's done.....so keep checking for it! Until then, here's some fun photos from the trip!

aNd goNe AGaiN

Since Thanksgiving, Darin ventured down to Barbados for 5 day to check out the future shop location and our new home. He had lots of pictures and info about the island and it was so excited hearing him talk about it. He's pretty stoked to be moving there and can't wait to open the store, he says our location there is perfect and we got a great deal on it!! So if you're ever in the mood for a vacation far far away, you know where we are!! Last weekend before Darin left we had CD (Chad Davis) here from Cayman, and his girlfriend Hanna came over from Freeport. We went out and had a great time and ate lots of good food! So now Darin is back and i'm off to Ft. Lauderdale today and leave for a cruise from Miami tomorrow with my aunt Robin and cousin Sarah. Robin wrote me a week ago and told me there's a 99% chance she couldn't go and if I wanted to go in her place she would change the name, so of course I agreed to go. Last night she found out that tiny 1% was the winner! So now she gets to come also!! I can't wait to spend time with Sarah and Robin, I don't get to see them very often so this next week will definitely be a blast!! We'll be in Jamaica on Monday and Cayman on Tuesday, i've never been to Jamaica so i'm excited about going there! Till next week (or the next depending on when I get my pictures uploaded), the cruise blog should be a good one, look forward to it ;)


Here's some pics from last weekend

ThaNKsGiviNg

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! This year we are spending it again with out our families. This is the 3rd year for Darin and the 2nd for me not being home today. Thank goodness for skype, we'll get to see everyone all together eating all the home cooked food we so badly want. Even though we're not home, we're very thankful for our families and for their continued support as we live our life in another country. We're thankful we have been given this amazing life, that Darin has such a great job and we have each other. We will be home for Christmas and New Years which we can't wait for! See you all in a month!!!

ViMeO

I just signed up for this video website called Vimeo. I shared the link on the side of my blog and it will play a slide show of all the videos I've uploaded and you can click on them anytime to watch. 


Dad, this is kinda meant for you since you can't navigate the internet very well except for youtube and break.com. This way everything I tell you i've done is all on one page instead of 4 or 5!! Uber-easy!! Love you!! xo

CaYMan iSLanDs

I tried to make a clever title for this one but we were there for 2 weeks and so much happened that I had to many "clever ones" to choose from, so I kept it simple with the obvious, Cayman Islands. We got back 5 days ago and i'm just getting around to having all the pictures up and the house cleaned so I can sit for a bit and write what I owe you, a good, solid post. We went to Cayman for a few reasons, 1. to help out at the shop while they find a new manager over there 2. the second episode of Paradise Pawn was being filmed 3. it was pirates week! Only the biggest event of the year over there!! This was my first visit to Cayman and I was SO excited! Darin was there for a few days before me and he was hard at work helping train "the new guy", who is Chad, we'll call him CD (not Chad Mcghee). He's only been there for about 2 months but has picked up on things quite well, still has lots to learn but Darin was there to help out. 


When I arrived, I was lucky enough to spend a good 4 days with Emily and the kids. It was great to see them and spend a lot of quality time with them since I haven't seen them in over a year. Especially little Kailyn, which las time I saw her, she wasn't even crawling yet and now she's walking and talking, it's crazy! I got to see Chandler at his finest during his boxing lessons, Annelie colored me lots of pictures, she's learning how to draw animals so I told her to draw me an ocean with all the sea animals in it, now it's on my fridge! Kailyn is the sweetest most patient kid ever. Her feelings get hurt and she cries when Annelie and Chandler fight, she cries when Emily has to yell at them, kind of like she feels bad for both parties and is upset people are getting in trouble, you only tell her no once and she just does what you say and walks away, she's the peace keeper in the family, doesn't like conflict and wants everyone to get along, she would also rather go around the house hunting for trash to pick up rather than play with toys, haha :) she's a great little Mcghee, you gotta love that kid.


When filming started is when the crazy breaks out, so much is going on all the time, but we made it through the week and it went smoother than the Nassau shoot. During the filming week i'm "errand girl", I get a car and a cell phone and then i'm put to work. I get props, drive people around, pick up lunch, get coffees, run back and forth to the shop from locations and for a crew of about 8 boys, it's a lot to do. I have to admit I enjoy it though. After getting lost a few times going places I had the roads down and running errands was a lot easier. For some of the shoot we enjoyed Pirates Week, which is a week long party of events everyday and starts off on a Friday street party right downtown with everyone dressed up as pirates, including Darin and I. That was fun!! The fireworks were the most insane ever, better than any i've ever seen and the grand finale was breathtaking, literally, the pounding in your chest you didn't have a second to breathe during it. So amazing!! We also tried out the flowrider, which is a machine that makes a wave you can surf on or boggie board on, use a floating animal on or just slide over the wave (which is what the kids do). I did bust my cheeks on the wave trying to use the boggie board, hurt myself pretty good, I won't post pictures or you might vomit :)  Chad is a natural at it and Darin's gotten good but he's only been a few times. After the flowrider (and the skinless top of my left foot) we ventured to a cliff.....i've learned that wherever Chad lives he will find a cliff to jump off of or a large hole to jump into. I jumped off the cliff in Turks and Caicos so it was only right to jump off the one in Cayman. Standing on the edge looking down, getting yourself to jump never gets easier. I did think for a second maybe I shouldn't jump because I had just hurt myself, but when was I going to be back here in Cayman standing on a cliff like this?? Not for a while, so then I thought about the family motto, YOLO, means You Only Live Once, and I jumped!! I had great form (I thought) until the top of my left foot SMACKED the water!! HOLY MOTHER that hurt!!! It stung SO so bad, I wouldn't take it back though. The next day we went free diving and the day after that we went scuba diving. I had my foot all bandaided up but if you know where the fin rubs on the top of your foot, you'd know I wasn't in the best shape, and of couse I did it anyway because why? YOLO....when would I ever be back in Cayman where some of the BEST diving in the world is? I dunno. So with bandaids and stinging pain in my foot, I toughed it out knowing I had to do ALL of this! After being certified in June for scuba diving, i've only been twice, so this would be my third dive. It was a deep one, about 115+ ft down. Chad is great to dive with and for some reason I feel super comfortable knowing he's down there too. Deanna is a great lady who works for the shop in Cayman and she dives a lot with Chad, so I knew I was in good hands. Chad said Deanna would stay with me about half way down, about 60ft or so and if I was comfortable there I could continue to the bottom with everyone else. The place we dove was called Big Tunnels....about 4 people can swim through at a time, the top of the tunnel starts at about 90ft and the bottom is about 110ft. When we got down, I didn't even realize that we were in the tunnel before Deanna pointed out to me at the end of it we were down 112ft!!! So crazy....I can't believe I did that! To be honest you loose track of your depth because everything is just so beautiful in that clear water and the coral reefs and so huge!!! We dove and snorkeled a ship wreck after that which was pretty amazing too. At the end of the trip I decided next time will be a vacation trip so we have time do LOTS of diving and do some tourist stuff to. I did get to walk around with Emily one last time the day we left and saw the huge Margaritaville with the water slide in it which looked like a lot of fun! Met Guy Harvey in his store, he was just upstairs painting another fabulous painting. I wanted to buy everything in there, but only left with a new tervis tumber, a Guy Harvey Cayman Islands one, pretty sweet to add to my collection.


Ok, that about sums it up. If I think of more i'll just make a new post, Cayman Islands continued.......until then, enjoy some photos!! 

YouTube Challenge - I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy

This is actually really really funny!!! The last two boys are the best! Enjoy!

ALaN & tHe AirPorT bLueS

Last Thursday we found out our Abaco fishing trip got pushed back a week and of course Darin's first reaction is to call Alan and tell him to fly down that afternoon because there's waves, 24 hours later Alan arrived. We had sponsored a comedy show Friday night so we all went to that which was better than the last comedy show we went to in July. We laughed A LOT!! Saturday we stopped by the farm for lunch and then the boys went spear fishing while me and Remie played on the big rocks and little ponds of water in them. She runs forever, she has so much energy and absolutely loves being outside, a true "potcake". Unfortunately the boys didn't catch anything, the did get a grouper but he swam away injured and then a reef shark showed up so they came in empty handed. We did the Senor Frogs night on Saturday, which was "Halloween" so all the costumes were out in full force. Sunday we got into the Atlantis Cove pool, which was a little dead but still such a cool place. Apparently it's like Vegas on the weekends, with lots of people and music. Not the day we went though lol. Alan made dinner for us on Sunday which was AWESOME!!! Hogfish Darin had caught a few months ago, with his new fish recipe, Alan made one of the best fish dinners i've ever had! 

I dropped off Alan Monday morning so he could get back to his real life and then stopped really fast at the other airport here to pick up something, came out 2 mins later to my car gone and towed to the airport impound lot. That's a long story but basically I was in my pajamas, had no phone, no purse, so not a dollar on me, Darin 30 mins away downtown at work, a $60 fee to get the car out and nobody would give me a break. So a little bit of a wait on the curb, a short ride on a free bus with airport employees, a few tears, a really upset husband, 2 hours later and $60 fee paid, they let me leave. Tough morning for this chick.

Today is our niece Jordis's birthday. She turned 4 today, hard to believe it's been 4 years already!! Happy birthday Jordis!!!!

FoOD & WiNe fEStiVaL

The Bahamas has something going on every weekend, most of it we don't bother to know what it is and we don't attend. But....one of the things I love about Nassau is that the community and people here always make it a point to do things on the weekends with their families. Whether it's a cook out on the beach, or setting up their tents at the fish fry, jamming out to loud music, or attending some weekend event, the people here are always doing something with everyone. This past weekend the Bahamas had the International Culture Festival, similar to the food and wine festival at Epcot. It's suposed to be the best event the Bahamas hosts all year. So on Sunday we ventured out to eat good food and try good beers with friends. Successful day since we stayed out there for 5 hrs!! I tried a few beers as well as Darin and we never got one we didn't like. We tried to never get the same one, so we'd drink 1/2 ours then give it to each other to drink the other 1/2, what a team effort!! It was an absolute perfect day for the out door festival and we had a great time!!

Darin's daily work out. Remie's 40lbs and hangs on like a champ, if we ever got robbed, she'd attack and bite and not let go, I guess that's a good thing. Here's the fun clip!

NeW iSLanD NeW cHapTeR

We've thought for a short time that there would be a possibility of us moving to our companies next location, but it's just been a thought. We've recently found out it's real, we're moving to BARBADOS!!!! Not until early next year, but hey, that's only about 3 months away. Darin wanted eventually to be in one of a few places and get settled in for a few years and open a few shops on one island. Barbados was his first choice, so you could imagine he's beyond excited. Not only is he awesome at opening new shops and great at running them, he'll also get to surf on his days off....lets be honest, he'll be in the water at 6am and right after work everyday of the week. I'm sure the ocean will see more of him then I will. If there's one thing Darin can get up for before dawn for, it's surfing. We're so excited to be moving there, can't wait to experience another island and it's culture. Our life is pretty amazing and I feel so lucky to be living it with my best friend. On another note, we'll be further away from our friends and family. Darin comes back a few times a year now, but I on the other hand come back about every other month. We won't be able to come and go so freely and have a this great hour flight to Orlando. We're hopefully making a trip home in December for the holidays, to see our family and friends since it will be a while until we'll be able to come back. Start planning your trips accordingly to visit the Doty's.

On another sad note.....we can not bring Remie (our dog) with us. I've researched and called places to find out all the laws and rules and printed out paperwork and everything, only to find out she can't come. The only way she can is if she goes to the US for 6 or 7 months, then we have to ship her to the UK and if she meets all the requirements she doesn't have to be quarantined and can fly to Barbados. I have to do paper work to get her to the states, find someone to keep her, get paper work (which is crazy) to go to the UK, and then have to find a vet there to sign off on a health certificate and fill out the paper work, wait till it's approved, then she can fly to Barbados. The flights alone will be thousands of dollars for me and for her, it's just a big mess. This totally sucks, Darin and I are so in love with her and knowing our days are numbered really break our hearts. We rescued her promising to give her the best home, she won't understand and it's not her fault and that's what upsets me the most. 

Thank God for my brother who is going to keep her until we know about the UK rule change on Jan 1st, (just found out about this since i've started writing this post) about the quarantine and regulation changes and then we'll know if we can bring her easily to Barbados or she'll have to stay, in which case I hope Craig falls in love with her so she can stay with him and have a good home there. If not, we'll find her another good home in Orlando somewhere.....but i'm keeping my fingers crossed for team Craig!

ReD VeLVeT cHoCoLAtE cHiP CooKiEs

Just saying...........you HAVE TO try this!!! 

InStaGRaM

I added a new gadget called Instagram, it's on the right side of my blog. It's like a daily picture diary, so if i'm not blogging everyday, then you'll definitely see what i'm doing everyday with this picture diary, Instagram. You can click on the individual pictures to make them bigger and see more detail if you need to (daddy :) xo). Also, I put a comment box underneath the photos, so you can leave a comment about a picture, about a blog, tell me hi, leave a love note, whatever you can think of! Click the + sign next to the "comment please" and it will show a drop down box for you to type in!! Be sure to leave your name, so I know when you leave a comment. Enjoy my followers!! xo

MaYO ParMeSaN cHicKEn

Short and simple blog today, just like this meal!
TRY THIS!!
http://www.hellmanns.us/promotions/chickenchallenge/recipe-parmesan-crusted-chicken.aspx 
                             

I made this the other night for dinner because it's fast and super simple and that's the only way I know how to cook. When I have a family someday i'll probably learn how to cook better, but I think i'll keep this one around for those family nights too....it's THAT good! I made green bean casserole and mashed potatoes with it. It's also one of Darin's favorites and if he likes something, I know it's gotta be good. Happy cooking!!

FiRSt "legal" DiVE!!

Tuesday morning I FINALLY got to dive!! Darin and I got certified on our 1 yr anniversary in June, and I have yet to dive. I've been diving twice before in the keys about 5 yrs ago with Chad and Darin but not since then. I've wanted to get certified and dive for so long and I got certified and now finally getting around to going on my first "real" (as in legal) dive!!! I went out with a friend and employee of a side company of ours, Norm. He goes diving a lot and had a membership to get 50% off here on all dives, so he's gonna hook me up! We went with Bahama Divers group out on a boat to the north side of Paradise Island. Our first dive was about 60ft and it was a ship wreck. There were lots of fishies and the water was so so blue. Our second dive in the morning was about 40ft,  this one also had lots of fish, but we also saw a huge sting ray with a baby one with it! Norm bought some fish food so in the lower picture is when he opened the bag and got attacked hahahaha. It was a GREAT first dive, and to think I was so nervous about it and didn't sleep well last night. At least it's over and now i'm good to go explore the ocean!!

ReD VeLVeT pANcaKeS

If you haven't figured it out yet, red velvet is my FAVORITE things!! I follow another blog called An American Cupcake in London and she puts up all these fun recipes of stuff, but the ones I try are the red velvet ones. Sadly, there are ABSOLUTELY NO red velvet cake mixes on this whole island. Seems crazy huh? So when my in-laws came a few weeks ago I asked them to bring a few boxes of red velvet mix....my mother in-law took me very seriously and went to Publix where they had them buy one get one free and brought me like 12 boxes of it!! She also found red velvet pancake mix at World Market and brought 2 of those. So far i've only made cupcakes and pancakes, but I will be trying some of those tasty treats from An American Cupcake in London blog very soon. Here's to a red velvet pancake breakfast for champions!! Oh and those are chocolate chips I added, my mom always did when I was little so of course I do it now too :)

FiLM wEeK

This past week was a complete whirlwind!! Not only did Teya and Justin come on Saturday but so did Chad, Emily and Brook from Cayman. Our long looooong week of filming started out at Senor Frogs that night and let me tell you, we had a GREAT time! The film crew came in on Sunday and set up the shop some, and then Monday to Friday they filmed from sun up to past sun down, getting home after 10pm some nights. After Monday it had already felt like a whole week, everyone was so tired and we kept saying we don't know how celebrities make it through filming for months to years for a movie. The crew was awesome and we all got to do some pretty cool stuff so the crew could get some good stuff for the show. I got to swim with sharks, and not just with a tour group, or any professional, it was just park your boat and jump in. I can't believe I actually got in that water, it was the scariest coolest thing ever, and that morning, I got to ride in a helicopter over the water while Chad did a back flip out of it!! Crazy!!  I've been wanting to ride in a helicopter so bad, one of the things that was on my bucket list....check! We did a lot of going out, Senor Frogs and the casino, as well as Aura night club one night. Darin and I did a little gambling in the casino, Darin unfortunately was down $25 but came back from being down $150, and I started with $50 and left with $255!!! Sometimes craps can be so much fun! :) Here's a few pics of the week, also the shark video I threw together....enjoy!!    

                                        

DoTy pAReNts ViSiT

We recently had the pleasure of hosting more of our parents. My parents visited in February and this last week we had the Doty's visit for 5 days. We had a great time with them walking around Bay St, they got to see Darin in action at work, we had some great dinners and drinks, followed by a great night in the casino. The best part was in the casino we all sat around one electronic $5 minimum roulette machine and played $10, and then put in $20 and then got up just over $100 before the machine said ERROR and I was quick to hit the "cash out" button. That whole time took us about 45mins, but it was a great $30 for 45mins. Darin and Mr. Doty played the normal roulette tables and took away a few hundred so all in all, i'd say it was a good night. We went to the beach for a day and it was so nice out. Darin got of work a little early and met us out there on his scooter and Mrs. Doty and I walked the beach and rocks looking for sea glass. The water was a perfect temp and crystal clear....gotta love the caribbean!

ReMiE gEtS FiXEd

We recently had Remie Martin Bieber Peepyopeep (have I been over the name thing yet?) fixed. Dropped her off in the morning and called the vet around 2pm to see if she was ready. The nurse said she was awake in her cage and looked like she was ready to go, so I went to pick her up. She was like a drunk kid after being sedated lol. She wouldn't lay down in the front seat so I had to lean the seat back so she could relax and close her eyes. When we got home, she was the most loving, snug little pup, the Dr. should give me some of that to use for our normal days with her. She did have an infection about a week post op after her stitches came out. She's on some antibiotics and is recovering really well now. She also weighs a whole 36lbs!!! Our guess when we first got her was that she would be about 40lbs, we're so close. 

TeRA & CrAiG viSiT

I came home from Orlando September 1st after 1 whole month. I had the pleasure of my brother Craig and friend Tera fly home with me and hang out for 5 days!! Craig has never been to Nassau, but he has visited when we lived in Freeport. Tera and I have been on a cruise to Nassau before, but she too has never really visited here. We did all the local stuff, went to our usual spots, did some sight seeing, the boys got to long board down a huge long hill at 3am, Tera went snorkeling for the first time and LOVED it, Darin caught a lobster, we got a flat tire one night and walked home at 2:30am.....all that and it was still a really good trip. I love seeing Darin and Craig together, they're best buds and brothers and it's so nice to see them get a long so well and enjoy spending time with each other. Tera and I get into our usual disagreements, but visiting and spending time with her is always great, plus a girl is around. I was also happy to spend time with Craig, since he works full time when i'm in Orlando, it's hard to spend time with him while i'm there. I luv my big younger brother!! Here's a few photos of their visit!

Now since my Orlando trip is over and Tera & Craig are gone, life goes back to normal for a while. I've been SLAMMED at work, but I love it so I don't care. We had Tony over for a few days and now he's gone too, so Darin and I had 3 days to ourselves and now i'm going to Freeport for Tony's birthday weekend and Darin comes over on Friday. We get back Sunday where i'll do a whirlwind cleaning spree before we pick up Darin's parent's Monday! It's nice to have Darin to myself for a few days but we also love all of our visitors. I like when people make the effort to come see us, feels good knowing people miss you so much they just have to visit! :)

NoMad LifE

I arrived Aug 2nd and left Sept 1st....for good reasons though. I went to Vegas, got to see my niece (which was a great surprise), hung out with some friends, had a few sleep overs, ate good food that i've been missing, bonded with my sister...a lot...went out with my 2nd family on their "mini yacht" for a few days on the west cost, just been doing such random things like a nomad would. I feel like I live everywhere and i'm never one place to too long, although my home is in Nassau with Darin, i'm still quite the traveler. I'd like to thank my husband for being so awesome and letting me travel and do things not many people get to. I totally appreciate everything he does for us so we can live this fantastic life!! Here's some pictures of this trip. One good thing about leaving is my brother and Tera came with me!!! It will be nice to have a flying buddies!

Here's some photos from the Good October weekend in Cape Coral FL with my 2nd family, the Tierney's. I enjoy spending time with the Tierns, if you don't know the story i've watched Kay and Shelb since I was 16. Kay was 8 and Shelb was 6. I call them my sisters and their parents my mom and dad. I'm so glad I had a connection with these girls when they were little, I couldn't imagine my life with out them.

PaRenTaL uNiT

I'm 28 and more in love with my parents now than i've ever been!! In high school, I put my poor parents through a lot. I disliked my mom and I knew my dad always tried to be the more understanding one, but he could only do so much before he would go against what my mother would say. I used to think my parents were the worst....they were so strict, had so many rules, they didn't understand me, they wouldn't listen and I swore I would turn 18 and move out and never move back. Thank God high school ends. After high school I started getting a long with my mom more, and right before I turned 21 I moved out. My mom wrote me this letter that I still have, and she told me how proud she was of me, how much she'll miss me at home and she hopes i'll call her. My parents never called obsessively, or showed up un announced, they gave me what I initially ALWAYS wanted....freedom.  I learned my parents were right all along and that they really actually loved me and cared about me, when I realized that, our relationshop got a lot better. Eventually being screwed by some roomies 3 times (I swear it's not me), I also moved home twice. It was harder being home, my freedom was still there but I'd also try and be respectful and not come home at 3am every day. I was also charged rent, and every time I moved home, rent went up another $50. My parents raised us to be as cheap as they are and learn the value of money. We never had anything handed to us. We bought our first cars, paid our insurance, bought our own gas, never asked for money to shop, so if we didn't have a job, we didn't have a car, gas, clothes, movies or fun nights with our friends. I've worked since I was 15 yrs old. I used to think it was crazy how cheap my parents were but now I don't shop for anything if it's not on the clearance rack or not a great deal, I totally get it. 


So i'm 28 and recently did something I knew my parent's wouldn't approve of. For some reason, I still at this age never want them mad, upset, or disappointed in me. I never want to do anything to upset them or disrespect them. I knew what I was about to tell them would be upsetting and they wouldn't approve, but I made a choice to do this with or with out their approval, this would be the first thing I would ever do in my "adult" life even if they said no, absolutely not. To my absolute surprise, my parent's handled it PERFECT!! I never expected them to be as honest and supportive as they were. It made me respect and love my parents more than I did and I thought I loved them a lot already. I thank God for my parents and how lucky I am to have them. I appreciate everything they've ever done and not done for me, it's made me who I am and after everything, I know how much they love and respect me also. I've realized no matter how life changing a decision is, my parents will be honest with me about the pros and cons, share their concerns, respect my decisions and support me no matter what. I love them so so so much, I could never have better parents than the one's who've raised me. 

Thank you mom and dad for being great parents even when I put you through hell....you've been a constant in my life, never changing your ways because you felt bad, but knowing you were doing it because it was right. I hope you know how much I appreciate you and how much I love you (to the moon and back). x o x o 

WaTeRMeLoN TrEAtS

I just LOOOOOVE this blog, American Cupcake in London. She thinks of and creates the most yummiest looking treats EVER!!! Can't wait to try this one! If you follow blogs, this is surely one to be following!

http://www.americancupcakeinlondon.com/2011/08/watermelon-rice-krispie-treats.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AnAmericanCupcakeInLondon+%28An+American+Cupcake+in+London%29 

SiN CiTy

Vegas anyone??? Those two words alone can probably explain my trip. Vegas for 4 days, stayed at the MGM, gambled or shmabled, which is smashed and gambling in one word, VIP's, day time pool parties, dying heat but not sweating a drop, site seeing, blisters from heals and wedges, limos and party busses......yep, that about sums up my trip! It was my first visit and probably my last for a while, pretty sure I won't top that one and won't be able to find the time or money to try. My travels were with Kaley and Chelsey, Kaley whom I used to babysit sit when she was 8, so i've known her for quite sometime and she's basically my sister. Chelsey is Kaley's best friend since they were little and i'm sure i've met Chelsey around the same age as Kaley, so her too, i've known for quite some time. We had such a blast, loved every minute in vegas, if you've been, then you know. At least i'm only $15 down from gambling, have to say, that's better than most.....so here's some pictures of sin city!!

NEW YORK NEW YORK

Kaley, me & Chel

trio at Wet Republic pool party (famous place, I swear)

spalding(an old friend) showed up, he moved there a few years ago and we haven't seen him since!

sisters

FuN wiTh ReD veLvEt

Shelby and I LOOOOOOOOVE red velvet anything!! I saw this blog and had to re-blog it for Shelby. This literally looks amazing!

http://www.americancupcakeinlondon.com/2011/08/red-velvet-rice-krispie-treats.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AnAmericanCupcakeInLondon+%28An+American+Cupcake+in+London%29

ENJOY!!

DaRIn'S bDaY

This past weekend was Darin's 27th birthday. We started off the weekend early on Thursday night when some of our friends were here on a chartered boat from Freeport. It was so nice to see them and sit up on the deck, have a few drinks and carry on as the sun sets in the harbour. We all went out for sushi (which was awesome) had a great rest of the night and went on home. 

Freeport Friends

duh, a harbour....that's the Poop Deck Restaurant with the white roof. Bad name....great food!

 Saturday was a fun day. The pawn shop sponsored a comedy event so we had a live remote with one of the local radio stations out front most of the morning, which brought in some business and got our name out there A LOT, great publicity!! So Saturday night was the comedy event and maaaaaaan it was hilarious!! For sponsoring the event we got a vip table and a large goodie bag. All of the employee's went and we had a GREAT time, laughed a ton!!

the guys got Darin a birthday cake

Bobby on the lower left and James on the upper left

minus the hand, Darin and I waiting for the show to start

On Sunday, the birthday weekend continued...we did one of our favorite things, go snorkeling! Got some great photos even though it was a little rough and cloudy out. Saw a big puffer fish and found some great sea glass for my project!!

looking for the puffer fish

there he is!

thought the bubbles were cool

just exploring

Today is Monday....and yet again a holiday here in the Bahamas! We're being super lazy and doing nothing today. It's also the first day of lobster season but we don't have a boat or supplies to catch them. Jealous of the people that are out there today, we'd love to be! Have a good week!! You know I will because VEGAS is in 3 days!!!

ReMiE DoG

Here's my "mom" blog....since we have no kids, i'll take pleasure in updating you about our puppy. Remie has had all great checkups, gotten her microchip, her rabies stuff done and the only thing left is to spay her. I'm not looking forward to that. I want to do it soon, but with Vegas around the corner, i'll be gone for about 2 weeks so it will have to wait till after that. Hopefully Darin will have patience with this crazy pup for the 2 weeks. She's pretty much potty trained at home now, our only problem is when she's at the shop with us. Some days she's great and uses the puppy pads if we don't take her out on time and some days she just goes anywhere and everywhere....can't figure it out. She's almost 4 months now and at her last visit she was 11.5lbs, a month later (yesterday) at her visit she was 21lbs!! I couldn't believe it! 10 lbs in 1 month!! Darin said "only 40lbs more to go", he wants her to be huge, but I think he's realized now she won't be as big, but we do want her to be a good medium size. As you know we're not sure what she is so we'll only find out how big she'll get when she's done growing, we have no average of breed to go by. Here's some recent pictures of her:

Gangta w/ a gold chain from the pawn shop!

and to know she used to lay on that right side in a ball and fit comfortably!

kisses in the morning!

FoRGiVe mE

It's closing in on a month since I've blogged. Which only means a lot has been going on. We went to Treasure Cay in Abaco and met up with some friends and went to all the fun bars on outer islands by boat, ate some good food and just hung out for a long weekend. Darin and I were supposed to leave on the Monday but I ended up staying on a friends boat with them in Marsh Harbour. Thursday I went home only to have who I was visiting become my visitors. Chelsea and her friend Tabitha came with me back to Nassau and then Stephen came on Sunday. We had a full house for a few days and everyone left on Tuesday. We had a FANTASTIC time! There's a new place I didn't know about here in Nassau called The Cloisters, I wish i'd known about this a long time ago to bring everyone that's visited to see this!! It's gorgeous! Here's a link to it...


http://www.bahamasgo.com/treasures/cloisters.htm


After our friends left, I had to work some at the shop. I hadn't worked in over a week so I needed to get stuff done. The rest of the week was busy and then Tony from Freeport came over for a few days so we had another visitor. I was also in Miami for the night bringing something from the pawn shop over for a customer. The next day in Miami my friend Fabiola came to pick me up and we got lunch on Lincoln Rd and hit up some shops. Found Darin his birthday present which was some new "gnar gnar" board shorts and some surf board wax. He'll be pretty happy i'm sure. I also recently haven't been feeling that great. Not sure what it is, but i'm happy to see a Dr. when I go home in 2 weeks.


I could write stories about Treasure Cay, but they'd be about the same as the last time and i'm sure you're all tired of reading my beach hopping, bathing suit buying, sun tanning, wind in my hair, freedom kind of life by now. I can try to change it up but I do just about the same things and go the same places, so I feel kind of repetitive sometimes. I go to Vegas for the first time in 2 weeks, so that will be a fun blog to write i'm sure!! Here's some pictures of the last few weeks,