Bonita Beach Vacation.

Nick's parents got into town last Saturday! Sunday was a nice relaxing day at home; Nick cooked on the grill after we had a nasty storm come through. He made his delicious steak tips and grilled asparagus.

 Then he played guitar for us. He's pretty amazing!

On Wednesday we headed out to Lakeland to watch a Tigers game. We got to see Verlander pitch (which is always fun) and we had a great time out at the ballpark.

After the game we headed out to Bonita Springs, Florida for a 4 night stay on the Gulf Coast. We have amazing views from our balcony's and floor to ceiling windows of the inter coastal waterways.

Wednesday ended with this gorgeous full moon.



Thursday morning we started our day with laying out by the pool sipping on Strawberry Daiquiris.

Then Nick and I took a walk on the beach and I got some good shots.

It is so beautiful here! I love waking up to dolphins frolicking in the water and all the different birds flying by our window. I could get used to living so close to the water!

 

I waited upstairs to get a good shot of the sunset...

And let me tell you... it was worth the wait.



Friday was started a lot like Thursday, but with a Bloody Mary in my hand.

When we were done roasting in the sun, we headed up to get ready for dinner with some family (there were 12 of us). There is a really good restaurant right next to our resort called Flippers that we walked to. It was a really nice dinner outside by the water. I didn't take any pictures of the food (even though I really wanted to because it was so good) because I just didn't think it would be appropriate.

 

Once dinner was done all twelve of us headed up to our rooms to watch the Michigan game. It was very stressful and exciting; the Wolverines are moving on to the Elite 8!

 

Today we are all going out on Uncle Mitch and Aunt Ginger's boat to cruise around and do some fishing. We are just waiting for them to get here now. It should be a lot of fun!



Banana Bread.

-Ingredients-

• 3 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a fork, mash bananas. Mix in melted butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt into the mixture and mix. Add in the flour last and mix.

Pour mixture into greased 4x8 inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

Cool on a rack, slice and serve. Enjoy!

A Family Filled Week.

My Mom's Aunts, Uncle and Cousin came down from Montana and Arkansas this week to visit. Yesterday we all got together at my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Donald's house. And guess who else was able to make it... Chelsea and Elijah!

It was so great to see my Great Aunt, Sue, my second cousin, Ann and my Great Uncle and Aunt, John and Arkie. I hadn't seen any of them since I was a kid. I had a wonderful time visiting with them and hearing them talk about their sister (my Grandma - my Mom's Mom) who unfortunately passed away when my Mom was a child. I love hearing stories about her and how she had a beautiful singing voice. They also kept saying how much I look like her, which is a huge compliment! I really like that they thought that about me.

My Step-Dad purchased live blue crab to cook for everyone.

And after the poor things were murdered...

...they were enjoyed with butter. I couldn't bring myself to tear into those but I did try one piece and I have to say it was delicious! After the crab we enjoyed some Frogmore Stew (which doesn't contain frog). There was shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausage along with a yummy side of grilled veggies!

All of this food was just so good!

The kids played in the pool again, as always!

As I mentioned in the beginning, Chelsea and Eli visited from North Carolina! I was so excited to see them. Elijah is almost six months old already; I can't believe it! He is getting so big.

He is now looking around a ton and is really interested in everyhing that is going on around him. It was so fun to hold and play with him.

I am such a proud Aunt of this sweet little boy!

 Even though sometimes he gives me looks like this.



It was great to have my sister back in Florida and spend time with her.



We were able to get a great picture of my immediate family!



In addition to my family visiting, Nick's parents also got into town yesterday! So after I left Aunt Cathy and Uncle Donald's house, I went home to visit with my in laws. Last night they taught me how to play Euchre. I really enjoy it! It's a fun card game and we have already played more this afternoon. Bob and Barb will be here until next Sunday. Wednesday we are going down to Bonita Springs, Florida to stay on the beach and see Barb's Dad and Brother and Family. We've been doing this vacation with them now for three years and I look forward to it every time! We all have ton of fun together and I am really excited to get to spend more time with family.

I was supposed to have a riding lesson today but we had some nasty - tornado like - weather come through and had to cancel it. So now we are just hanging out at the house and watching March Madness games. Going to make Chicken Alfredo tonight for dinner! I will have Turkey Meatloaf and Banana Bread recipes coming to you soon! I hope you all are having a great weekend and enjoying your Sunday!

Fox Sports Detroit.

 

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Nick and I going to the Detroit Tigers Spring Practice. Well, while we were there waiting for the players to come out, a man from Fox Sports Detroit approached us. He wanted to know if we would like to be on TV... heck yes!

 

He and his camera man pulled us aside and gave us a few lines, one of which was "Only 23 more days until Tiger's baseball returns to Fox Sports Detroit!". Nick says the first part and then you can hear me chime in at the end.

 

Here is the video. Sorry for the poor quality, I'm working on getting a better way to get it on tape.

This commercial aired a few times last Saturday. We didn't know at what point it would come on so we just had our TV on FSD all day. It was at about 6:00 p.m. when we noticed that we were on TV. We recorded it on the DVR so now when anyone comes over we can revel in our 6 seconds (literally) of fame.

 

GO TIGERS! 

Lesson Number Four.

After leaving Sea Crest Equestrian Center, I decided to schedule my fourth lesson back with my old trainer, Amanda Neave, at her barn, SBC Equestrian. I am so happy that I decided to ride with her again. I didn't realize until I was back riding with her, just how much I missed being around the barn and the horses.

I used to board my horse, Susie, with Mandi up until I sold her (back in 2008). She took me to several successful horse shows along with two other girls, Kaley and Darby. We were our own little barn group and we had a blast hanging out and riding together.

Mandi had me ride her horse, Beau, for my lesson last Sunday. I used to ride Beau back in the day and we made a pretty good pair if I do say so myself. He is a lot of fun to ride; such a good hearted and kind horse. Here are some pictures of us together about 5 years ago.

My lesson went pretty well. Mandi had us do a lot of flat work to start off. Beau is a little out of shape (as am I), so he wasn't bending and collecting like he use to but we will get there.

After our flat work we started jumping. He was being really great and relaxed but there were a few times where the two of us just weren't on the same page. We were jumping down one line, he took the first jump really nice but when we landed after the second jump, he veered to the left, I lost my balance and I fell off. Yep I fell off! It wasn't too bad, I almost landed on my feet. Beau took off and ran back to the barn so we had to go get him, I got back on and jumped a little more with no issues.

It is really great to be riding again with Mandi! I'm really excited about it and am enjoying being back around some old friends. Lesson number five is scheduled for next Sunday and this time Nick is coming along to watch me ride! I can't wait for him to see me out there doing my thing!