While the majority of people I know mock Jacksonville, I have to stifle the urge to roll my eyes. To me,  while this ain't the Hamptons, it's still ideal. 

    Just think- when you need go to Walmart and they're out of your favorite toothpaste, a 10 minute drive to the next store is the solution. It's nice when you want to go out to eat for a date but don't want fast food (or Ruby Tuesday's, Douglas' option, yuck). A large gathering of people can be guaranteed for any major event. And one of the most important parts, when you want to spend a day at the ocean just take a drive down Beach Blvd. to arrive promptly.  See, I love each of those things- they were problematic in a small town. But perhaps my favorite thing about this city is when family gets to come enjoy everything with me.

    This week is Coffee County's spring break so I've had a few meetings with some beach bums. It's been really nice to get out of the house for some fun, I'm sick again so I tend to hangout exclusively at home during those times. But these guys have really helped me go and do. (Unpictured- Mama, Aunt Tracey and Granma Alice; love you three.)

(March 31st)

(April 1st)

Life Mid- March

    Since I haven't been working, I have blogged with much less gusto than I planned. But the majority of my day I am running around with errands or trying to find a few quiet moments to study some new concept from class. But things are pretty okay in our neck of the woods.

As you may know, this handsome lad was accepted into both of the graduate schools he applied to! He now has to decide between University of Illinois and Penn State for an HR degree. I am so proud of him; he always works hard at whatever his task is, whether it be school, his calling or his job. I love you Grahammy! (PS- This picture is circa 2012 at his UNF Graduation.)

Have ya'll been writing this extremely sassy girl? She goes through huge "I love you" and "I hate you" phases to me, thus the response. She is lucky she has the best sister ever so that she gets forgiven! ;) And only 9 months and 19 days until she is home. Can anyone else believe it? I can't.

Here are two of the current crafts I've been working on! The first was a teal clock that I turned into a gold chalkboard, the second was a photo frame with wrapping paper and yarn- wrapped dowels. (And a hint of embellishment) And yes, the chalkboard does read "GAL." It is rather unfortunate that mine and G's initials spell GAL or LAG. What's a girl to do?

Graham was thrilled that we renewed our Disney Annual passes! Anyone want to go? Need a few suggestions? Want a babysitter while you get your roller coaster urges out? (Sorry but only Graham can help with the last one, rollercoaster fiend over here.) Get with us! We love going with friends :) 

Two things. First, check out that fishtail braid! My Young Women showed me how to do it recently, so I'm still working on perfecting it. And lastly, what a beautiful temple! I love visiting the place where we were married, I just have so many incredible memories at that place. Part of the reason we got WDW passes again was to encourage ourselves to go more often!

It's extremely weird for me to think this young man (I almost put boy but figured I better be more realistic here) is a Senior in his last semester! He recently earned his Eagle Scout, a dream he and my father both shared. The next step is to graduate, then off to serve the Lord for 2 years. I am so proud of my little namesake ;) Love you Acey!

My sweet friends have asked me and Graham a time or two to watch their little ones. Ya'll know I love spending time with babies! I am grateful for my friendship with their parents and being able to watch all of these munchkins grow. 

I know I already did a little post about Graham's birthday- but I never got around to sharing a picture of his wall I made for him after the party! 28 pictures for his 28 years of life. Also, repping Papa's Gun Shop! 

I've known this little goose since she was 1! Hard to believe she is now 3. We celebrated with her at the Zoo, her fav place in town :)

The person who helps me get through the good, the bad and the ugly. Words can simply not express. I am so extremely happy to get to spend forever with this man!

Ta-Ta

Going on Lately

    Sunday on the trek from Georgia to Florida all by myself, I thought about my current state... and when I did I couldn't stop laughing.

• Unwashed hair up in a twisted knot 
• A pounding headache starting at my temples up to my scalp
• My head was utterly congested
• My nose was running 90 to Nothing
• A scabby fever blister formed above my lip
• My voice went up 3 octaves, and would magically disappear during talking
• My coughing hack would spew contagious spit in all directions
• One contact had fell out of my eye and I had no replacement
• An intense scratchy throat 
• Loose fitting clothes for comfort
• Airplane pillow for neck support

    All of the above has been a fair description of my physical state for the past several days. No clue what I have, I'm too cheap to go to a doctor but have taken a great quantity of DayQuil/Nyqil, Throat Spray and Abreva to squelch it. The suggested ailments have included: serious head cold, influenza or laryngitis. I doubt it is one particular thing, just a combination of a few problems. 

    In the meantime, I figured I should catch up on my blog! This poor thing has been so lackluster of late, I still haven't wrote up on Italy! One day, one day. Besides those that- a few new things have sprung up.

   -On February 16th, our very first niece was born! She is so incredibly sweet and cute. Like I suspected, Graham has taken particular liking to her. He has visited her several times while I've been quarantined.

-I have just about finished redecorating my wall! I've been slowly but surely purchased, mended or crafted to work it out. I still think I need one more piece down the side, but that is still to be determined. (Plus after taking the picture I realized the small gold frame was tilted- it's fixed now ;)

-This past weekend I traveled with my Mama, Aunt Tracey, Granma Alice and Granma Mary to visit Charleston! We like to get all the girls together and shop/eat/have a good time. The only typical member missing was Listi- who said she can't wait to go next year! The actual amount of time we spent exploring "historical Charleston" was all of 1 hour for a free trolley ride. The remainder of time we had delicious meals and spent all of our money at the Tanger Outlets.

    So yeah! I'm still kicking it. Hopefully, I'm on the last leg of this dang sickness. But Graham has been on point with his compassion during this time! Meaning he has really babied me and catered to my every need. What a blessing to have that smart, sweet man. Speaking of- he was accepted into Graduate School yesterday! He just makes me so proud everyday. So February- it's been good to me.  I would love a big fat bowl of frozen yogurt more than anything right now- but besides that life is great. :)

Cruising for Graham's 28th

    February 2nd my sweet Graham hit the big 28! In honor of his birthday we went on our first cruise together! We ended up picking a 3- day cruise leaving out of Port Canaveral. This was so much more fun than I predicted. We enjoyed the comedians, shows, hot tubs and unlimited food! We didn't have to wash a single dish, we slept in every morning and we ate no less than 6 meals (and 2 ice cream runs for me) per day! It was so incredibly relaxing.
    On Day 1 was very low- key. As soon as we boarded the ship, we just wondered around, trying to figure out what all 14 decks had. As we made our way we ended up dancing to the DJ's music while we played putt-putt and took full advantage of the adults only Serenity Spa deck.  A few hours after taking off, I began to feel really nauseated- seasickness? Ugh, my luck man, it sucks. So I had to take Graham's dramamine to fight off the craziness, so grateful I brought it. We figured that we would try the main dining room after snacking on the Lido deck all day and found it perfect for us! We ate there for breakfast and supper for the remainder of the trip. Then we laughed harder at the adult comedy show than we should have.
    Day 2 we woke up surpassing lots of islands on the side of our ship, and finally docked in at noon to Nassau, Bahamas. We had to go through a long process of getting off to get to our kayak excursion. After losing and then finding our group (thank heavens!) we finally made it aboard our Carnival sponsored boat to take us to the reef.. The really neat aspect of kayaking, and why we inevitably booked it, came from the clear bottom on the kayak, so we went through the coral reef seeing everything. The crystal water showed us schools of zebrafish, lionfish, the whole zoo. I even held a starfish that was at least 1 foot in diameter; no rules about endangered creatures in the Bahamas :) We were given the option to snorkel or swim after our tour, but opted out to continue in the kayaks to visit other parts we hadn't seen- plus the water was toooo cold. Afterwards we were jetted back to the port where we walked by the famed Straw Market and Senor Frogs, nothing we were really impressed by. It was obvious how poor and touristy the area was. We boarded our cruise ship and went on to enjoy the Elegant night- we dined on prime rib and lobsters- decked out in our nicer clothes. Graham didn't bring a tie that matched so I had to improvise (anyone who knows me will guess what I did after seeing the pictures above and below). Man, I love my Graham although I know I stress him out. Afterwards we went to a Mardi Gras dance party on the Empress floor. We kept the fun by playing bingo and listening to more comedy shows. We didn't fall asleep until way after midnight.
     Day 3 was our only full at sea day. We woke up, ate 2 breakfasts (seriously ya'll, we were binge eating the whole time) and scoured through the day's itinerary for *fun* things. After enjoying the Serenity area again, we spent quite some time at an art auction where we purchased absolutely nothing! Then onward bound to more bingo, more food, and a really interesting 80's themed show! My only qualm was that the show was full of thong- wearing dancers while many parents had brought their children, but they did dance beautifully. Every night we ended with more laughs at the comedy shows.
    Day 4 was the end of the road for the trip. We thoroughly enjoyed it, especially since it was the perfect cruise to get our feet wet. I would quickly go on another one, but would definitely like to changes a few things about my next trip. 1) More dramamine! Start taking before the ship leaves and every morning before I get the chance to think about it. 2) Pack less clothes. I am always over prepared in this aspect, I find it fairly unnecessary to have lots of clothes to deal with on the ship and then eventually unpack. 3) Dine with other cruisers. While we did love our flexibility and eating alone, I think next time it might be more enjoyable to make more friends on the ship. 4) Book a lengthier one! We had so much fun visiting Nassau, but we would have loved to visit more places and stay on the ship longer.
    Now, all that's left is to find a good enough reason to go on one again! ;)

28 is Great

    The title up there? Yeah, it's my new slogan for this year of Graham's life. We're both getting old but we are still having fun.
    So, when we left off Graham had just been gifted a 3 day cruise with yours truly. We arrived back on Sunday, one day before Graham's birthday which was this past Monday. My boy has been adamant about trying new restaurants, so when it was his turn to pick the location for his birthday dinner, he chose the Stonewood Grill and Tavern. The fellow Alexander's joined us at there, which turned out to be a steakhouse, where the birthday boy ordered a huge rib-eye.

   Afterwards we went over to Granddad's house for cake and ice cream. Graham and Granddad both have birthdays in the same week, so they even shared a cake. 28\\81... Therefore 281? I don't know, it worked though.

    See, I'm a natural Alexander, I fit right in These are my kind of people.

        Haha, happy birthday to my sweet, wonderful Graham. I love you so much, goofball.