trip to ohio- june, 2010

it's been so much traveling lately! last week, we went to Ohio  (where Adam's from) to visit some of his family and friends. it was a lot of fun and i enjoyed getting to spend that time with him and meet some of the important people in his life. also, Ohio is nothing like how i had always imagined it in my head.

gone, gone, gone :(

 

on may 6th, very right after we got home from Key West, i found out that my Grandma Kit was in the Hospital in Mississippi. as far as i had known, she hadn't been sick. just like with my grandpa, this was a surprise. immediately, i got on a plane to fly there to be with her. Adam came with me, he was incredible. in my entire life, no one besides my parents has ever been there for me the way that he is, and really always had my back. it meant the world to me to have him there with me and that he got to meet my incredible grandmother (he wasn't so lucky with my grandpa who died suddenly February 28, 2010). so, there we were, in Mississippi, watching one of the 5 most loved people in my entire world die. it was heart wrenching. we sat there almost helpless by her side for 2 days. there were moments of laughter, when she was coherent she would wake up and say something sarcastic, as was her nature. God, i miss her. so, there it was, just like that. within 3 months, i had lost 2 grandparents--- 2 of the 5 people that i had always loved the most were gone, just like that, without warning.

 

toya moved home to miami...

my roommate & close friend toya moved back home to miami. she took a job there that she loves. she works in the domestic violence unit for the state. she seems really happy. i miss her. i miss the fun we had together and i miss constantly having a somewhat like-minded girlfriend around to chat with, bounce ideas off of, cook with, laugh with, and get dressed up to go out with once a week. that said, i am incredibly happy for her that she's found her place and is happy in her job.

...if you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough....

Adam & I drove down to Key West for the weekend. We left Friday evening after we both got off work, around 6:30 pm. We arrived at our first hotel around 2:15 am. The hotel had a lovely pool, so we checked in & immediately went for a swim. What we didn't notice was that the pool closed at midnight, so the staff didn't take too kindly to our 2:30 am swim. Although short, it was fun & refreshing.

After our swim, we went to sleep so that we could wake up at a decent hour on Saturday to start our adventure.

On Saturday morning, we woke up & went to an awesome breakfast place that Adam had researched ahead of time, called Blue Heaven. Adam tried a Lobster Benedict, which he loved. I had an omelette & their homemade bannana bread, it was fabulous.

After breakfast, we boarded a trolley tour with 12 stops throughout the key, which we could get on an off throughout the day. We rode the trolley around the key until about 3:30 pm stopping at various touristy stops to explore.

After we were satisfied with all of the sights we had seen on the trolley, we went to our hotel for the second night, which was the Crowne Plaza, located right across Duval Street from Sloppy Joe's.

After we checked in to the hotel, we changed into beach clothes & went to check out Fort Zachary Taylor and the beach at the park. The Fort was interesting, but we weren't all that impressed with the beach. We're too spoiled because we live near such beautiful beaches.

After the beach, we went back to our hotel to change, then we hit the town for the evening & did our own version of the "Duval Crawl". It definitely made for a fun & interesting night.

On Sunday morning, we packed up, checked out of our hotel, and walked down to a french creperry for breakfast. Adam had a crepe made with bannana, lime, and sugar; mine was nutella, strawberries, and bannanas. We sat right up at this breakfast bar where we could watch all of the crepes being made. They were great.

On the walk back to the truck after breakfast, we stopped for one last photo opportunity and ran into some folks who we had met the night before at Hog's Breath Saloon.

We left Key West around 1:00 pm on Sunday to make our journey back to St. Petersburg. Along the way, we took a few hours to visit Toya in Miami for dinner.

Although we both wished we were able to stay away longer, it was a wonderful weekend. Now, we're back home & back to work.

 Adam started his new schedule today, working overnights. This will be challenging for us because I work from 9:00 am until 5:30 pm and he will be working from 4:00 pm to 4:00 am. I'm so grateful that we were able to spend such a fun weekend together before this schedule change...

...becoming who we are

here we are, out on our own now
not living in the future, not running from the past
we've counted up the days, counted down the minutes
we're counting on each other, yeah we're gonna make it last

i don't know where we'll go
but even if we stumble & fall, we're becoming who we are

this is just a start & it's gonna get harder
i don't want no other, there's no one quite like you are
with pennies in the jar & holes in our pockets
i might not have much, but i promise you the stars
our hearts toss and turn and we're so unsure
there's so much we can't see, there's so much we need to learn


i don't know where we'll go
but even if we stumble & fall, we're becoming who we are

i don't know where we'll go
but even if we stumble & fall, we're becoming who we are

sunshine & other bright things

sometimes i forget that i can choose to walk in the sunshine when the clouds of uncertainty alter my perspective ♥ ♥

 this morning, walking out to my car to go to work, i had the usual list of important tasks that must be completed running through my mind... as i felt the warm sun rays beat down onto my face, i looked up and smiled. at that perfect moment, my wonderful boyfriend exclaimed "It's a beautiful day today." suddenly, the to-do list vanished from my mind and i thought to myself, "you're right, that's what today is: beautiful." it was a perfect example to me of our daily & even momentary opportunities to CHOOSE happiness. there is absolutely no reason that we need to spend every waking moment full of worry or fear or stress... sometimes, we should just be. 

 April 3, 2010. Toya, Adam & me

m.i.a.

i haven't posted since December 3rd.... i stink. but, life is good---- really good. i've been really busy, but will try to update more soon, hopefully tomorrow.

Adam & I at Gasparilla- January 30, 2010

Rest in Peace

I just heard a minute ago that a dear friend passed away this weekend, November 28, 2009.
 

This is crazy but, Saturday night, i was driving back to tampa from my parents' house in Sarasota on 301 near the cheetah and i saw a motorcycle hit a car and the person flew off the bike and landed on the grass on the side of 301... no one had responded to the scene yet, so i called 911 and said a prayer for the person and their family... the person was wearing a helmet but they weren't moving when they were lying in the grass... i was on the phone with a friend who drives a motorcycle at the time and i told him what I had just seen and he said, "the guy probably didn't make it." i have thought about that accident a few times since then, i could see it in my head over over, the limp body flying off the bike into the grass and then not moving, how it didn't look real.

Today, I got an e-mail from a mutual friend telling me that our friend Natalie died in a motorcycle accident Saturday night... it was the same accident that I saw. Life is nuts sometimes.

 

I am still in shock and so sad. Rest in Peace Natalie... you will be greatly missed.

 

 

Dumbaugh, Natalie Winnifred
Oct. 12, 1987 - Nov. 28, 2009

Natalie Winnifred Dumbaugh, 22, of Sarasota, died in Sarasota Nov. 28 as the result of a motorcycle accident.
Natalie was born in Sarasota Oct. 12, 1987. She is survived by her parents, Dorothy Tuccinardi and Roy Dumbaugh of Sarasota; sisters Carmen (Steven) Phillips, also of Sarasota, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Abigail Dumbaugh of the United States Navy; and grandmother, Winnifred Dumbaugh of Sarasota. Other Sarasota relatives include uncles John (Barbara), Robert and James Dumbaugh and aunt Roberta Tuccinardi. Beloved cousins Jeris and Lisa Tuccinardi of Sarasota, 1st Lt. Elizabeth Dumbaugh of the United States Army and Victoria Dumbaugh of Boston will cherish memories of Natalie in their hearts forever. Many aunts, uncles and cousins across the U.S. and Canada are part of her extended family. Also grieving for her is special friend, Mitchell Fox of Bradenton.
Natalie was a 2006 graduate of Booker High School V.P.A., a 2008 graduate of Manatee Community College and was currently a student at U.S.F., Tampa. She would have graduated in 2010 and had planned to become a music teacher. She was a member of the International Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa.
Music was Natalie's passion throughout her short life. She was a member of the Sarasota Youth Opera throughout elementary, middle and high school. She performed with the Key Chorale for two years, and sang in the choir at First Presbyterian Church in Sarasota for two years while attending M.C.C. She performed at every opportunity no matter how small the role and took great pride in learning challenging pieces, often in a foreign language. Natalie's encyclopedic knowledge of music delighted all who knew her. She was a member of The Cotillion Club of Sarasota during middle and high school.
A memorial service will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2256 Bahia Vista St., Sarasota, with a reception following in the Fellowship Hall.
Donations may be made in Natalie's honor to the Music Program at the State College of Florida, and can be sent to State College of Florida Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 1849, Bradenton, FL 34206.
As a small child, Natalie proclaimed, "I'm just like Mary Poppins; practically perfect in every way!"
Moreover, she was.

Natalie's Obituary in the Sarasota Herald Tribune

i can always be better...

i want to laugh more heartily
when my world gets too serious.
 
i want to sleep more soundly 
when my world gets tiring. 

i want to think more logically 
when my world seems chaotic. 

i want to live life larger 
when my world gets too small. 

i want to reach out more often 
when i feel i don't have anything left to give. 
♥ ♥ 


random photos of the day, my roommate, Adam, and me being silly: