Kayaking for sharks

We recently went kayaking with some friends of ours and their kids and it was a blast! This was my first time kayaking in the ocean, and let me tell you kayaking against the wind AND the current is no picnic. However, the view was breathtaking and I got a serious workout kayaking the half mile from where we put in to the actual ocean.




One of the big goals for the trip was for Anthony to catch a shark for the kids to see. Anthony told the kids about catching a 100lb nurse shark last week and they were amazed because they had just seen sharks at the aquarium. Zeke was TOTALLY excited at the idea of seeing a shark up close and I am pretty sure he thinks Anthony is about the coolest guy ever and gets to do the most fun things. Now he comes up to Anthony all the time and asks him when he can come over to play :) Unfortunately Ant didn't catch a shark, but he caught a pretty good sized sting ray and caused a serious 5 minutes of excitement and anticipation while he was reeling it in.


We had a really good time and will definitely be doing this again soon! Here is a picture of the sunset just as we were putting the kayaks back on the car:

Just as a side note, since I just marvel at the cute things kids say, our friends' three year old watched as an airboat came in and loaded onto the trailer. The water from the boat started to empty out of a plug on the back and she kept saying, "Look! The boat is going potty!" Too cute!

Why I love my husband

As many of you know, Anthony is not only the best husband ever, he is pretty much unflappable. Nothing really bothers him or gets to him and if they do, it doesn't last for long. Sometimes I think that his reactions just aren't normal. At least, they certainly aren't how I would react...

Case in point: A couple of nights ago I was trying to get to sleep and Anthony was downstairs downloading music on the computer. Recently I've discovered that I have become one of those people who can't get to sleep without a breathing body lying down next to me. I never used to be this way, and in fact when I first got married I found it easier to get to sleep when I had the bed to myself, so this new development is a little annoying.

So finally around 2am I went downstairs, fuming and barked at Anthony, "Are you coming to bed???? I am tired and I need to sleep!!!" I then turned around and marched back upstairs and into bed. Anthony comes upstairs a few minutes later, whistling!! I watched him for a little while and then I finally couldn't stand it anymore and told him,
Me: "You know I'm mad at you, right?"
Anthony (laughing): "No you're not"
Me (exasperated): "YES, I am"
Anthony (laughing harder): "No you're not"
Me(trying not to smile/laugh too): "What is wrong with you?"
Anthony: "You can't be mad at me. I'm too cute" *insert big grin*

I was dying of laughter by this time. What a unique, adorable man. Happy Birthday honey, I love you!!

New do

I've been thinking about getting a hair cut for awhile now, and I finally just went and did it today. I love it!!! I had Anthony take pictures of it so I could post, but we ended up arguing because he would only take pictures if I smiled really BIG, and I think I look like a dope when I do that. Soooo, I'm only posting the "sexy" picture and the side views in which I got away with not smiling. Ha!!! I win!!!

Stop It!!!!

I saw this on TV today and I thought it was HILARIOUS!!! Especially for all of us counselors out there, there is going to be at least one time in your life that you want to say this to a client. My favorite part is around 4:14 ("what, are you a nut of some kind!!?)

The tally for the week

This week has definitely gone by in a blur. Here is the breakdown:

Hours worked: 36
Hours at school: 14
Hours at the gym: 0 :)

This is the first week in a long time that I haven't gone to the gym at all!! Hopefully I can get back on track next week :)

Working with the Hubby

Last Friday night was the start of Anthony's new part-time schedule on nights. He switched to have my schedule and work nights every Friday and Saturday. It is interesting because for the first time ever, Anthony will be home all day while I go to school (except for the day he has school) and then we actually go to work together on the weekends because we work three floors away from each other in the same building!

Our first night together last week I got floated to another floor to sit for a patient who was on suicide precautions. Anthony called the floor looking for me and since I don't ususally work there, they didn't know who I was. This is how Anthony found me through his conversation with their clerk (who is a complete stranger):
Ant: I'm looking for my wife, Virginia. She is supposed to be working on your floor tonight.
Woman: Ummm... I don't know. We have a sitter but I'm not sure what her name is.
Ant: Is she super cute??!!!
Woman: Well.., she's not really my type, but yeah. Let me get her for you...

Albertsons Sale

For all of you who live in Gainesville:

The Albertson's on Archer road is going out of business and is having their final 3 days of sales before they officially close. Right now everything in the store is 50% off and let me tell you, the inventory is going fast! Makeup, fragrances, and other items like medicine are 70% off. They are still taking manufacturer coupons, just not albertson's or comptetitor coupons. There is still a lot of canned goods, cereal, toys for kids, gator stuff, and baby stuff (especially formula and that stuff is expensive!!!) and I don't know if they are going to lower prices even more tomorrow or the day after. It is definitely a good time to stock up on some things, and you could probably make out like a bandit if you use coupons. I went there today without my coupons after I got out of class and saved close to $50!!

Just thought I would let you know because I have definitely been wondering if it was worth it to go these last couple of weeks.

First Day of School

Anthony and I came home from Tampa today after his first day of Grad school! We drove there together last night and had time to explore the town and figure out how to get to campus. We stayed in a pretty sketchy motel, because it was one I booked when I thought Ant would have to stay there once a week for the entire semester so I was looking for the cheapest place possible. We still had a good time though and we spent the whole night watching movies on the laptop :)

This afternoon was the coolest! We got to the campus around 11:00 and had to literally hunt for a parking space. One good thing about the USF campus is how well labeled everything is! Each building has a large label at the top of what college it is and there are multiple direction signs to the different buildings as you drive around. We finally found a spot near the Health Science building and walked to the bookstore. Ant's books weren't too expensive, so that was a plus. I really wanted him to get a USF t-shirt but he didn't want to get one unless it had ARNP or graduate school on it. I guess I can understand that :) We found his classroom, ate lunch and then I read and cross-stitched for three hours until his class got out. He really liked his teacher and he thinks that the class is going to be good, which is a relief for both of us.

It was fun exploring around Tampa because all I could think about was, "Wow, I am going to be living here in 9 months". It was kind of intimidating because the city is HUGE compared to Gainesville. I kept looking at apartment complexes around USF and trying to remember their names so I could look them up later. Another cool thing is that I am thinking about doing my 2nd practicum at the Moffit Cancer Center, counseling cancer patients and their families and the center is literally feet away from where Anthony has classes. With our new schedules this semester and the possibility of doing that next summer, I hope we are going to be able to handle all of this new togetherness!

Here we go again

Today was the beginning of a new semester for me and a new program for Anthony. I was a little bit nervous going to school today because my classes were going to be with completely new people. I started my program out of sequence, so for the last two semesters I had class with all of the people who started last fall. This fall is the start of a new group of students and it felt a little bit like the first day of grade school. The classes are so small and you take so many with the same people that it isn't like a lot of college classes where you blend into the group of 100. We did get-to-know-you activities and it was pretty fun. It felt good to be the one with the most grad school experience in the class :)

Anthony's classes officially started today, but he doesn't have to drive down to Tampa until Wednesday. After a lot of consideration and reviewing his classes syllabuses (syllabi?) and seeing the intense amount of work involved with the classes he decided to start out part-time, which really means that he is taking two classes instead of three. He had talked to me about starting out part-time awhile ago, but I thought it was just nerves about being in grad school when he has been out of school for so long. (Taking undergrad classes online is still school, but just doesn't require as much from you as far as time and effort). After I actually looked at what his classes would be like, I realized his concerns were pretty valid and we decided that he would start out part-time and see how it goes. Even if he stays part-time the entire program, it still would only take two years and in the grand scheme of things that extra year isn't worth all of the stress and hassle and the possiblity of failing (which for USF nursing is less than 82%!!!).

My internship has been going pretty good so far. I've definitely learned ALOT in the short time that I have been there, and I've received a lot of good feedback from my supervisor and the clients that I'm pretty good for a newbie:) It has been hard being in an environment that is so intense and dealing with situations that are SO complicated that you are at a loss for words. However, I knew going in there that since I have pretty much zero experience working with substance abuse that there was going to be a certain amount of growing pains as I navigated the territory. I can say one thing, when I leave there next May there is going to be absolutely NOTHING that anyone can say to me that will surprise or shock me :)

Well, I'm off to the gym. TTFN

I am getting good at this!

My shopping trip today was amazing, as usual and I got a lot of good deals. I've decided to count all of the virtues of my coupon hobby: it builds math skills, teaches frugality and economy, makes me practice asserting myself (telling a disgruntled cashier, "I know this is on sale/coupon is good. Please check so I can decide if I am going to still buy it.", and it is getting me into doing my food storage.

I was telling my parents just the other day how grocery shopping this way just lends itself to building up a food storage because the whole idea is to stockpile things that are on sale that your family uses so that eventually you only go to the store to stockpile more sales and the few things you need to buy fresh. So I've been working on my food storage these past few weeks, and I can't lie I've been excited that there are more things for me to hunt out deals on.

Today I stayed right on target for my budget and I even did a little better. I am budgeting $50 a week for groceries (we used to spend at least $100) and $10 a week for food storage items. Today I spent $58.55 on all of this and I finally earned $30 in JCpenney gift cards as part of a Publix promotion that has been going on all August.

I ended up saving $97.49, which is actually more than I made by working all day today. Does that mean I can call in to work tomorrow? :)

New Nephew

I just wanted to gush that my sister and brother-in-law had their baby today (or late last night, I'm not sure)!!! They had a boy and he was 10lbs 9ozs, can you believe that!! The best part is that my sister-in-law really wanted to have a vaginal birth even though her last one was a c-section and she did. If she can have a vbac with a 10lb+ baby, anymore babies should be a piece of cake!
Now that is a healthy sized baby!!
Congrats Happy and Jared, we are so happy for you!!

Sometimes you just need a laugh

I've been feeling kind of bummed and stressed out lately. I don't really have a good reason why. It is the end of the semester, so I should be excited but mostly I am just tired and I want to stay in bed all day and eat candy. I hadn't checked my funny dog pictures website I have linked so I thought I would go there today and it worked! It really cheered me up. Here are some of my favorites:
I just had to laugh at this one because this is exactly how I've been feeling!! I've definitely lost some steam when it comes to going to the gym and eating better. I think that I only went once last week when I usually go every day! Hopefully I can get my self re-motivated because I feel so much better in general when I do work out regularly.
Now this one was great because it reminded me so much of this picture of Bitsy:
I guess this is what happens when you have a dog that is bred for tunnelling in the ground after badgers!