Birthday Weekend in the Keys

Happy Monday!!

We are back from our trip to the FL Keys for my Birthday. 

Let me preface, I don't like parties for my birthday. And ever since I was a teenager, I have traveled for my birthday, except for a few times here and there. But this year, I didn't think we could swing it (financially) because I didn't work this year to add to our trip fund. BUT, Ron "surprised" me with a trip to the Keys for my 40th birthday!

So we strapped the paddleboards on the van and headed out (although, we never actually used the boards because the wind was insane during the whole weekend)

We got down there, checked in to our resort, then headed out to go snorkeling. We found this little spot right after the 7 mile bridge, and it was fun for a quick snorkel.

Then we went to Bahia Honda State park....where we were NOT impressed. We've been here before and it was a lot better, so it must have just been the weather, because the seaweed was INSANE on the ocean side. The bay side was fine, though. 

Then for dinner, we went to the Island Fish Co - the ambiance and food were so good! We tried a different place first, but it was a 2 hour wait! um. No thank you. lol

Then back tot he resort for the sunset. I'm so glad we stay on the Bay Side, so we could watch the sun set. It's one of my favorite things to do! 

Free drinks for my birthday!

waiting for the sunset at the tiki bar with live music. One of my favorite ways to pass time!

Look! Ron took a picture AND smiled - after I scolded him and told him to pretend he likes me and smile. haha! 

Spending my birthday with my favorite people in one of my favorite sceneries. 

The next day, we were expecting a bunch of rain, but we packed our suits, some water and food, and headed south for Key West. But first, we stopped at Sombrero beach to check it out to see if we could go paddleboarding, but the wind was INSANE. The girls and I have paddled here before with my parents, but I think it was during spring break, so the wind was different.

So we headed to Key West. First stop was the Butterfly Conservation. 

Caroline's BUTTerfly. hahaha

Then we headed to "the buoy" for an updated family picture. You cant tell in this picture, but all 3 girls were dancing to a car who was sitting still and their music was blaring. 

Finally made it to the buoy....

So this was 2022, turning 40... and the next picture is from 2012 when we came for my 30th birthday. Look at that "wittle" Autumn and Brooklynn! 

For lunch, we had Key Lime Pie on a stick - because why not!? lol

and a smoothie in a pineapple... 

Stopped off at a pier on the way out. The wind was CRAZY and the waves were rocking on the pier. 

On the way home, I saw that a friend suggested going to "Horseshoe Beach" where they had fun snorkeling, and it turns out that we were getting ready to pass it, so we stopped off, changed our clothes in the car, and then headed out snorkeling. We had an hour or so of fun and on the way back in Autumn found the ultimate souvenir!! It was completely empty and a MONSTER of conch shell. 

We also ran into a friend while snorkeling. It's so weird to be traveling and running into people (we ran into a former student during our trip to the mountains this summer, too!)

Then back to the resort for dinner and a sunset. 

Well, we got some Key Lime Pie for my birthday and we had a few pieces left over, and Brooklynn decided it was a good idea to have some for breakfast so we didn't have to transport too much of it. lol

We packed up, and head out of the keys. We stopped at few places along the way, one of which was "Big Betsy" the lobster. 

Which was another picture remake from 2012. 

So, here's to 40 years around the sun. Here's to surviving the last year, because it was a doozy! And here's to the future. 40 isn't old. I feel like I'm in a good place and ready for life!!!

Saturday Round-Up

Oh, my goodness.

Well, I'm back to work and so now I'm back to trying to figure out my new routine. 

So, instead of Friday Favorite or Menu Planning Thursday - I'm just going to do a Saturday Round up, combing it all!  So grab your coffee, and come hang out for a while!

Last weekend (hard to believe), we came home from our trip to North Carolina. 

We were heading home and Ron really wanted to stop off at South of the Border. lol Turns out, that SAME DAY  in 2014, we were heading out for our road trip and had stopped at South of the Border. SO...we had to remake some pictures. 

2014

2022

2014 - pregnant with Caroline

2022 - Caroline (and the girls) are a LITTLE bigger now 😭

If you want to see our trip, here's PART 1 in the mountains, and here's PART 2 at the coast. 

I mentioned I went back to work - well, this week and next week are all new teacher training...new teacher as in "new to Pineapple Cove" training, because they do things A LOT differently than most BPS schools (which is why I switched to BPS)

The biggest difference, so far, that really challenged my brain was the Orthography training. I'm such a phonics nerd, so I LOVE this... but the coding and "script" of what/when/how to say it, that's they mind challenge. But I am excited about it!

What I wasn't excited about? Doing a lesson in front of my peers. lol. I mean, if I was confident in the subject I was teaching, I wouldn't mind, and actually, it wasn't bad once I got up there, because I knew that EVERYONE was nervous and didn't know what they were doing. lol. 

Coming home from work, it's still summer, so I would jump in the pool with the girls to enjoy the outdoors after being inside all day.

/SWEATER TANK/ /SKORT/

This skort is one of my favorites - I have it in a few colors now. 

TANK/  /JOGGERS/

/SHIRT/ /CARDIGAN/ /JOGGERS/

I've still gotten in my workouts every morning! I think it helps that I woke up early still throughout the summer, because it's not too bad getting up in the morning before work to get it in. 

Granite software n snug hustle shorts...quite possibly my favorites after luxe drawstring hustle shorts...and they're they're sale!!

Gray all star bra Blackberry Twist tank - we don't have this color right now, but we have other colors!

Abstract leggings and all star bra - such a fun set!! So comfy and silky and stretchy... no top seam, but they stay up, especially after you get going and get a little dewy from the sweat.

Maroon seamless hustle shorts. Love these - no seam, but the compression is still there! Comes in a bunch of different colors too. I sized up in the pink ones and they still fit perfectly.

Black luxe muscle tank- one of my favorite tanks for working out and hanging out and daily wearing.

The new hazard tank. I love this tank. It feels just like the kettlemoon

Yellow metallic lnt strappy

Neon tape luxe leggings (on sale!)

Island pine leggings - it's so hard to capture the beauty of these leggings, but take a look at these other beautiful ladies wearing them. Hendrix bomber - this one is on sale! I really like this one, more than I thought I would, actually. Yellow copper charge tank - one of my favorites 😍

Guysssss!! Have you tried the new XB pilates on beachbody on demand yet??? Holy. Cow. It's like barre blend on steroids 😆 I had to DROP my TWO LB WEIGHTS this morning at one point because it was so dang hard - ha! One day, I'm using my 20 lbs for upper body day, and today I was struggling with 2 lb weights, if that tells you anything. I did the sculpt 1workout. I am definitely incorporating this program into my weekly rotation. I haven't even tried any of the new workouts they've added, but xb is part of the open fit programs that they added. I'll have to give the other ones a shot at some point too

I'm starting to get some new things for my classroom! I'm not getting to much because (A) I have a SO MUCH already (B) I don't know what my classroom will look like yet and if there are any "rules" that we have to follow for lack of decorating. 

/BURLAP PINEAPPLE FLAG/ /PINK PINEAPPLE FLAG/

School Girl Style Tropical Set

And since we're back into the swing of working again, time to stock up on my dry shampoo. lol 

and it's time to make that grocery list! So, here's what's on the menu for next week....

Remember, I have them planned for "days," but I don't always do them on those days. Sometimes I don't even make them in that week - I just circle them on my monthly menu so I know I can add them to the next month's menu. You'll find the links for the recipes below

1. 

1.  Garlic Herb Shrimp Scampi - so light and refreshing. It's one of my favorite recipes. 

2. Sheet Pan Jalapeño Pineapple Shrimp Tacos - (I didn't get to this last week, so I just moved it to this week for our Taco Night) I LOVE a yummy shrimp taco. The girls and I can't handle much heat, so I'll put the jalapeños off to the side for Ron. He loves heat. 

3.  Bacon Chicken Sandwiches - just plop on the grill and add some bacon, lettuce and tomato!

4.  Grilled Chicken and Spicy Corn Salad - again, I'll leave off some of the heat for us girls, but add it on for Ron

5.  Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Salmon - yummm. We love salmon and it seems like garlic is one of my favorite flavors this week. lol

Allllrighty. I think that's it for today! I think I'm all caught up... perhaps. I mean, there's always WAY more going on than what I can/do share, but those are the "highlights" of the week. (not the best of, just the main parts of...I'm not a highlight reel kind of person. I share the good, bad, and ugly!)