accentuate the postive

Top three things that are prettier than my sunburn:

Lucy curls up on my bed when I am getting ready for work in the morning. She looks sad because she knows I'm about to leave...

JP suns himself (herself...?) on the rock under the UV lamp... this was such a cute little sunbathing pose I HAD to take a picture. Does my turtle have personality, or what?

I drove up to Jacksonville to surpirse Stephen this weekend and we had a lot of fun! This is us after playing a little frisbee on the beach! Good times! :-)

So... although I am somewhat uncomfortable in my present condition (see below) these cute pictures and fun memories help to make me feel much better!

don't be stupid (like me)

This is a public service announcement: Wear sunscreen.

(Darn you freakishly strong Florida sunshine!!!)

I bet I'm gonna peel.... gr....

just one of those things

WOW! Has it really been TWO WEEKS since I posted anything? Goodness... I have been neglecting my blog. I do have some nice things to share for this post, though- a few last pretty pictures from Miami and some other things that are nice to look at. I hope you enjoy them, I know I have!!!

This first picture was taken when I was sitting in my car in Tampa. Bethany saw the picture later and asked, "why did you take a picture of a leaf on an antenna?" and until that moment I hadn't thought it was weird. Hehe. I guess I just thought it looked cool. I especially like the way that the shadow of the little nobby bit falls on the center leaf. And the colors. Mmmmm, colors.

In my head the title of this picture is "Wish I was There". I've never been sailing but doesn't it seem really exciting and romantic and glamorous? I went sailing in Denmark once, but it was with a sailing club for youth and they all knew what they were doing and the leader just kept running around shouting things in Danish. So I just tried to stay out of the way and in the boat. Maybe next time it will be in English.

I was down at the beach hanging out by myself and just thinking and reading and praying and then I thought I should try to take a picture... you know... to prove I've actually been to South Beach and all. This one is the best I could do with only an arms length. If I look kind of sleepy it's because I was. : )

As I laid there on my towel in the late afternoon, the sky looked sooo pretty. It was like a painting. Or maybe it was so pretty, many people have tried to paint skies like that one so paintings look like this sky. If I could paint better, I would paint this sky for sure.

Then in the evening, Bethany and I went out for one last meal on the fun and funky strip that is Collins Ave. We returned to our favorite "cafe bar restaraunt" and found it SHOULD have been called "hot waiters from around the world". Seriously, with guys that cute they should advertise more! Hahaha. I think our waiter was Israeli and our busboy was Italian. Good times.

Then we decided to take a walk and enjoy some other kinds of scenery... I wish there was a better way to show you what Miami Beach is like at night (I recommend going out early and coming home before the skeeze-fest begins... it's much prettier that way). This is a picture of a VERY cool art deco hotel called the Richmond. So we walked for a good long while to finish off our lovely time in South Beach!

Now, after all that prettiness you may not be able to handle any more... BUT... I have saved the best for last. In the past month or so I have met and began dating this wonderful man named Stephen Keller. Hooray for that! So... I will leave you with a picture of the two of us. Yay! (Oh yes, and I know... I don't wear glasses... but these are my fake ones for when I need to be incognito. Besides, Stephen is so cute in his glasses, I couldn't let him out-cute me! Hahahaha.)

Welcome to Miami (Buenvenidos a Miami)

Hello! Finally, here come the pictures from Miami Beach! So, when we reached the hotel sadly it was getting dark already. These few pictures don't quite do it justice, but this is the view from our room door. It's really cool because the hallways all open into a courtyard and the doors are always open because it's the same temperature inside as out!

Our room has a little kitchenette area, and just in case you find that unsightly, it also has beaded curtains! Hahaha. Bethany is modeling them well.

In the front hallway, there is a fish tank. It is neat. It has clown fish (nemo).

Also, as you might expect, there are palm trees EVERYWHERE. This makes me think of my friend, Tara Leigh. All she ever wanted when she was small was for her parents to buy her a palm tree. I wonder if this one's for sale....?

After checking in and getting settled, we headed out down Collins Ave. for some dinner and excitement. We found this cool streetside eatery that seemed to be called "Restaurant Bar Cafe" Apart from its name, it was very trendy and cool... But then again, the best restaurants are the ones with no names, right? Anyways, this is me trying to look cool and relaxed and fit in in South Beach.

Here is another cool picture of the place we ate. It was hard to really capture how beautiful it was... just this slinky, warm light spilling all over the side walks... A-mazing.

Then we went on down to the beach! Woo Hoo! It was so awesome, even in the dark the sand was white and the sea was this luminous turquoise. In Greece, our wonderful guide named Lula kept saying "tur-kwahs" and I think I like that pronunciation better! Either way, it was a beautiful night and we wasted little time getting down to the water! (PS- guess which toes are mine... it shouldn't be too hard if you have ever seen my feet or are aware of my tendency towards unpainted nails...)

Okay, so I don't so much care about fancy cars. I mean, the car I would get if I could have anything is an old IH Scout or an original Ford Bronco. However, I wanted to give you an authentic picture of South Beach. Around 11, all these super expensive cars start turning up all over the place- it's crazy, the traffic is the worse in the middle of the night than in the day! But anyway, this one is a ferrari, I think...

So, since most of the day time I am inside at our lovely booth, I will leave you with a picture of Miami Beach the way I usually see it: dark. However, it is lovely- in day or night- and very romantic at times. Definitely bring your sweetheart here if you get the chance... if you have a sweetheart, that is. If not, bring yourself and some friends! Oh yeah, and that white circle light next to the center light pole is the moon rising over the water, just so you can imagine yourself here! Adios!

Jehovah Jireh, my Provider (Ode to Amanda)

well folks, here I am down in South Beach (Miami)... and before I get started with my usual silliness, I must pay tribute to the person who has made this blog possible. And to think, I hadn't even met her an hour ago. But, let me start at the beginning...

So, I drove my workmate (Bethany), an associate (Kate), and myself from Lakeland to here today. And I must say, this day has seemed to be the pinnacle of my recent trend towards airheadedness. I really don't know what's come over me lately, although I have an idea. Anyways, after a very illogical route out of town, turning around because I thought we had missed our turn- only to have to re-turn around when it was discovered we hadn't, and then freaking everyone out by thinking I had left my company credit card in Ruby Tuesdays, I was feeling glad to be in this very romantic and idyllic place with everything seemly in order for tomorrow. After dinner I had come back to my room to download my pictures and blog away, when I realized that my computer was nearly out of battery and I had left my power cord (presumably) in my office at work. Now, the thought of this made me very sad. So I walked down to the garage where my car is very expensively boarded for the evening and asked the valet to bring it back so I could look for my power cord. Not there. So then I asked the valet where to go to try and buy another one. He tells me Lincoln street and that the stores should still be open (although it is 10:30). Somehow, this does not seem strange here. I hop in my car and drive down to Lincoln only to find many stores open, but not the ones that sell electronics. At this point I am getting very sad and mad at myself. I drive around a little more hoping to find one shining beacon of electronics-selling glory. Then I see radio shak- lit up like the sun. Hooray, I think! I begin to frantically look for a place to park my car and finally find one around the block. I proceed to walk down to radio shak (and sometimes run). Not open. Stupid tease. I am even more sad/mad. boo. Then I decide to walk a little further in that same direction. Just to walk, I guess, because at this point it doesn't look like I'll be spending any time on my computer tonight. I am walking and feeling frumpy from my long drive and gross next to the fabulousness of everyone passing me. I pass 3 girls talking about dancing. About 10 steps past them I realize that one of them was my friend Stephanie Zungre from NYC. I hear her voice. I turn around. Stare. Commence walking after them. Listening, trying to see her face to be sure. Then I see her purse and remember it from the city. Stephanie? I meekly call. OH. MY. GOSH! she says. And it's her. And we talk. And I actually had met one of the other 2 girls before on my first night in NYC- we talked about Uganda that night! weird. So they ask me what I'm doing. I tell them about the cord disaster and lo, and behold, the other girl (AMANDA!!!) says a little while later: I have a Toshiba. Do you just need to borrow it and charge your battery? Yes, says I. So, sweet, ballet-girl Amanda, who I literally just met in the street offers to hop in my car and have me drop her at her apartment so she can loan me her charger. I will take it back tomorrow morning. After we exchange cell numbers, she reaches to shut the door and says "God bless you". As I now sit happily at my trusty computer, at least for this night anyway, it is very easy to see how He sooo HAS. Goodnight all! Photos are coming soon!