november? but it's 80+ degrees!

so it's been a warm fall for us so far!  but i figured out something:  that's not nearly as bothersome when you're lying on the beach :)  we just got back from a fantastic weekend with glen, suzy and family in captiva.  it was WONDERFUL.  much tennis and beaching was had.  and the wildlife!  i couldn't believe all the activity on the beach.  we saw a great blue heron, which i got some great pictures of when he caught a fish!  we also saw a fisherman on the shore catch a shark- twice!  the surf was full of fish.  how do i know?  because they were doing backflips about every 20 seconds while we sat and watched the sunset - it was the coolest thing!

i posted a bunch of pictures on our picture site here:  http://floridaiveys.smugmug.com/November-2009

but here are a few of my heron friend :)

can you see that fish's mouth?  he knows what's coming.

showboating his catch:

happy november ;)

happy birthday cleo!

for cleo's birthday, she received a 'pup'cake that sarah and i found at this cute little dog bakery and 2 new bones (one from us, one from aunt sarah & uncle ryan) :) she also got lots of attention from nate and i all day (like that would differentiate the day...) here is the pupcake:


cleo discovering what it is:


loved the frosting!


i think this is where the panic that we might take it away from her set in:


all done and checking for crumbs!


hope you enjoy your next birthday cake as much as cleo enjoyed hers :)

happiness?

is feeling a brisk breeze blowing through the window, listening to your husband practice guitar, drinking a great glass of wine, and relaxing with a good book :)

i know i haven't blogged much lately but we're still here! i think we can officially declare fall in florida, we had a cold snap this weekend -- we had a game night with friends and we had chili to usher in the cool weather :) i LOVE this time of the year in florida (and i know i'm not alone!) we open the windows, drink orange juice, drink red wine and dark beers, eat cold weather food like chili and potato soup, play tennis, go for bike rides, enjoy the patio, and just be :) makes all those summer months worth it!

nate's band has a gig this weekend! they're playing a benefit concert for relay for life :) i'm really excited, not only because sarah and i have been planning the event, but also to see nate and the band at their first public place! if you're local, stop by next weekend!

also, nate bought a new guitar this weekend, or... what i like to refer to as the precursor to my new camera :) i've been saving up my birthday money and have been eyeing a new camera from canon. i may buy it tomorrow if our local camera shop has it in stock... cross your fingers for me!

go steelers!

FINALLY today i'll get to watch my first game this season! (i've missed the past 4 games for a variety of reasons)

relay for life!

so we'll be doing relay for life in november,

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. It offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are an overnight event, up to 18 hours in length.

we have a very energetic team and lots of events and fundraising leading up to the event itself :) if you'd like to help out, you can donate here: my relay fundraising page.

thanks :)

nate and i did this several years ago when we were dating -- we participated with the virginia tech graduate students association and each person dressed in a different color to represent a different type of cancer to fight. all seriousness aside... aren't those pants i'm wearing the least attractive thing you've EVER SEEN? :)

i'm not dead

just been working a lot :) but i am SO EXCITED -- cassie, jeff, cade, mom and marty are all headed to florida this weekend! expect lots of pictures (of course!) :) we plan to hit up epcot's food and wine festival, do some dinners in, some dinners out and just enjoy the weekend.

we also had the most beautiful day of weather since ... march maybe? usually when i'm driving to work, it's around 80 degrees, but this morning, i was almost all the way to work before i saw the temperature was 69 degrees! i was so excited, i immediately rolled down the window to see if it was true :) and it was! nate and i cleaned off the patio in prep for the beautiful weather that's sure to begin appearing on a regular basis :)

also, nate started growing his beard again :)

fletcher william

but also... how cute is he??

cadiem rey

so i know it's out of focus a little, but how CUTE is he???

a nately quote for your evening

"would you accept 'stanky' as a acceptable scrabble word or would you challenge it? for example... she was stanky. she was real stanky... "

and for the record, no. i don't consider that an acceptable scrabble word and yes, i would have challenged it ;)


in the end, i won because the word "aw" is actually in my dictionary (as an interjection!) but it was a close game :)

excerpt from the book i'm reading, "prep"

"...we got shuffled and thrust together and shuffled again, and there was always the chance that you might find out one of the pieces of hidden information. This was why I felt excited when life was different from normal, when things happened- snow and fire drills and the times we had chapel at night, evensong, when the sky outside the stained glass windows was black. Depending on circumstances, a wild fact could be revealed to you, or you could fall desperately in love."

i really like this paragraph and totally identify with it :) that when things are totally thrown out of normal is when the exciting stuff happens or at least the air seems charged with something different. like a snow day or hurricane watch or a change of travel plans. good book so far!

wall art!

nate and i really need to work on getting more art on the walls. for a long time, i've been meaning to do a scrabble dealy in our ... extra room... music room... random room that happens to be filled with guitars? whatever room it is, i'm planning on framing the travel scrabble board that nate proposed on (which is still snapped in place!) in a shadow box with some notes or pictures, surrounded by square frames holding the pictures below. if it looks like hell once i get it all together.... well then i'll try something else!

oops! have a safe trip on the 20th grandma!

:)

have a safe trip grandma!

my grandma has spent her summer in indiana, which is a great place to spend it, especially when you live in arizona! here's a picture of her with my aunt willie and aunt peggy (2 of her sisters, she has 4 others!) :) they are the three that visited us in florida last spring which is where they got these shirts :) she's headed home tomorrow. have a safe trip gram!

vacation!... in 2010

so i FINALLY get 3 weeks of vacation for the first time in my life next year :) nate and i are starting to plan what i like to call: the-honeymoon-i-never-had-unless-you-count-the-24-hours-spent-in-venice-florida ;)

we're looking at visiting glacier national park (and potentially another... banff perhaps?). the plan is to visit next summer and we're in the early planning stages :) nate's been there before which creates a funny dynamic for planning, i can tell when i suggest an activity they didn't do on their previous trip because he looks reluctant to agree (for example, horseback riding). did you know that glacier national park has more bears than anywhere in the continental united states? we have a great book from nina & john that has all kinds of good details, including this gem (mom, take note!):

"if you encounter a bear don't run. back away slowly and assume a non-threatening posture. if a brown or grizzly bear charges, drop into the fetal position, protect your head and neck, and do not move. it's the opposite if you encounter a black bear or mountain lion: act aggressively, throw rocks or sticks, and try to look large by holding up a pack or branches. if attacked, fight back, aiming for the nose."

everyone in this family wants to be a guitar player...

cleo has a little box of nate's guitar picks in her mouth...she doesn't want to chew on them or anything, in fact they're only halfway in her mouth. she just wants nate to chase her :) which he is. she's hilarious :) they're both running laps around the house, we usually can't catch her without the help of the other!

she stole them while nate was helping me learn guitar ;) i better go help him catch her! goodnight! :)

happy birthday seester!

guess who's the big 3-0 today??

miss bella boo

i've taken naps longer than that!

i think nate said it best at 3:45 am this morning when we got up to get ready for our flight to phoenix! we had a few hour layover in memphis, and made our way to the west coast :) unfortunately, cleo's been having issues with her paw so sarah & ryan have to take her to the vet tomorrow :( hopefully it's a quick fix with some antibiotics :)

dad and anita picked us up and we've spent the day with them and the boys which has been great :) i rented a lens to play with this weekend which turns out to be a lot of lens for me! i'm still figuring it out, but we played around with some senior photos for austin. ryan spent most of the time making austin laugh but most of the time also resulted in making me laugh which makes for blurry pictures :) we got a few we can use but it was HOT so we gave up pretty quickly :)

tonight we're headed up to the cabin with mom & marty for the weekend. should be a nice break from the hot weather we've had lately in florida and in phoenix!

some photos from today :) dad made some delicious stir fry for lunch (and is sporting some stylish new glasses!)
the boys out front :)


aren't they all grown up? this is taken where they both attended elementary school :)

more later! have a great weekend :)

juan valdez.... the explorer?

the other day nate and i were driving around orlando running errands together and he turned down a road that (i thought) led nowhere. the following conversation ensued:

bri: nate! this is the turn into the hospital, it's not a road!
nate: bri, i'm exploring. i don't know if you knew, but i'm an explorer. like valdez.... juan valdez.
bri: so, you .... discovered coffee?

turns out the parking lot did spill out onto the road we were looking for so his 'exploring' paid off afterall :)

Six Links -- cool new green site :)

there's a cool new website called Six Links where you can track what you're doing to save the earth and live sustainably as well as get new ideas on how you can do more :) it was actually started by a friend i went to high school with -- check it out! you can join at:

http://www.sixlinks.org/