I'm Here!

Greetings from Florida. Though I would have loved to take your advise Kristen and not blog, I just can't. It's quiet and peaceful here and it is the perfect time to post. Plus, it's gives everyone back home the chance to have updates on everything while it happens rather than me trying to remember everything once I get home. I will however, be sure to enjoy myself. That I can and am already doing.

I have only been here less than 24 hours and already I've filled my time well. First of all, let me say that the flights were perfect. The weather was perfect, the flight itself was amazing, and the weather was gorgeous. I've put together a little slide show for you to see.



Once we arrived here in Tampa, my Dad (who flew down the day before) and my sister picked us up. On our way back to Venice from Tampa we hit a really rough storm. You can see on the last two photos the progress of the storm along the Tampa Bay coastline. It was so bad that we had to pull over alongside the freeway. There were cars lined up in front and behind us, all pulled over waiting out the storm. The storm finally blew through and we made it back to Venice around 5:00. We all needed just a little down time so we rested while my sisters ran to the store to pick up a few odds and ends. We had pizza from Hungry Howie's which, by the way, was very tasty. Matt and Cait stopped by and we had a few minutes to catch up before they were off to do more wedding prep work. I got Merci down for the night and my dad and brother-in-law Bill offered to keep an ear out for her as the three of us girls headed to Chili's for dessert to celebrate my sister Cheryl's 45th birthday. Just as we were about to head out someone my sister knew told her that Matt was also there having dinner on the other side of the restaurant. We made sure to sneak up and surprise him. A quick stop at Wal-Mart and we then settled in for the night. This morning, after a great nights sleep we headed to Venice's island for breakfast at a little place called If Teacups Could Talk. Let me tell you it was the best breakfast I've ever had. I had a piece veggie quiche and a raspberry scone with homemade cream. I also had a White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Latte. OH MY! Yum! I want another one now! It was sooooo good. We plan to go back at least once more before we leave. We are now home and resting for the afternoon. I hope to get out and take some pictures. Tonight we hope to make it out to Venice beach to watch the sunset. We plan to spend the rest of the afternoon making meatballs and cookies for the reception on Saturday. Lots more to post about later. For now I am going to head outside for a little walk. TTFN Friends!