Lindsey's got duty tonight so we get to hang out with Jadyn!!

What to do with a two year old for the evening??
Take a trip to the pool of course!


Swimming with Matt...




And obsessively drinking the water!!



Working very hard to squirt all the water out of Thomas ...



Since we kept trying to keep him from gulping the water straight out of the pool he found alternate means!






And no trip to the pool is complete without a snack...Mmmm, goldfish!!



Swimming and chasing kitties around must really wear little boys out...Jadyn was watching TV with Matt and next thing I know he's OUT! Off to bed little guy! (And I'm not far behind you!!)

This past weekend we made a whirlwind trip to North Carolina! Matt's Aunt & Uncle and Grandma (on his dad's side) relocated up there from Atlanta a couple of years ago and we hadn't made it up there to see them yet. Everyone went - Matt's parents, Christine, Amy/Reggie/Natalie/Laurel and Granny.

We spent the afternoon playing at the pool which was definitely a highlight for the girls!

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18 month old Laurel swimming!

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"Noooooooo!"




Our after-dinner group shot...



Granny & Ladybug!

Everyone else headed back Sunday morning while Matt & I headed up to Durham to visit The Summit Church. This is David & Jen Thompson and Shannon Simoneau's church so we were excited to get to check out a church we'd been hearing about for years and also get to hang out with some good friends!

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Photo op with Shannon after lunch at Moe's!

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The Folder Game!

Haven't really been blogging on here lately...(Well, like 3 weeks if you wanna get technical!) Just been INCREDIBLY busy!

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Last Friday-Monday we were at youth camp and I created/updated a blog for parents/friends to keep up with us while we were away...Feel free to check it out if you haven't already. http://jsmconnection.blogspot.com/

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So now to kick back off my own personal blogging I'm gonna get in on the Folder Game that Shannon started over on her blog...(I think she tagged me, but there's so many Jen's/Jenn's that you can never be sure!!)

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So here's how it works...Go to the 10th folder on your wonderful little computer and post the 10th picture in that folder and explain the picture! NO CHEATING! (Feel free to tag some peeps if you'd like to keep the randomness going!)

Here's my pic:

This is a picture is of a flower outside of our apartment where we lived the first couple years we were married. Funny, but I actually remember what all was going on when I took this picture! We were painting our living/dining room (again!) and even though the room was in total disarray one of our cats was sleeping contently on the back of the couch. I got out my camera and took a couple pictures of her and then went outside to take some more random pictures to take a break from painting! Now I keep this pic and a few others from that afternoon on my jump drive to use as my desktop wallpaper here at work!

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Now I tag Lindsey, Lindsay & Stacey!

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Hope you have a happy Friday and enjoy the weekend!

Just spent the entire evening at the mall and I'm once again convinced I could never be a shopaholic! I went in to tonight's "shopping spree" with no spending limits on myself and still I did not find any clothes for myself for the first 2 hours! (I did find black and white panties that I wanted, but that just doesn't really count!) It wasn't until our final stop in Express that I found three dress shirts that I liked and even then I would have NEVER gotten them had they not been 40% off! I even put my favorite one back without even a second thought when I thought it wasn't on sale! I just have such a hard time buying for myself if I can't justify the item as a complete and total necessity! For example, I had to force myself to get another pair of black close-toed dress shoes despite the fact that the only ones I've ever owned are falling apart...So they're all scuffed up and the sides are pealing away, they still serve their purpose! They still protect my feet when I'm walking and that's all they're supposed to do!! Who cares what they look like?!? I don't! Agh! It's craziness! (And yes, for those of you who know me really well, I WOULD still be wearing my original fake Birkenstocks with the soles worn paper thin had God Himself not asked me to give them up!!)

Anyways! Tomorrow's Thursday, but it's the last day of the work week before our three day weekend!! Yaaay for the Fourth of July!! Looking forward to lots of pool time with some good books!

We had such a nice, relaxing weekend just hanging out at the pool! It was incredibly hot, but floating around the pool with a good book makes it way more tolerable!

You'd think two full day of the pool would be enough for us, but here we go again (to the neighborhood pool this time) with the Stickel boys for the evening!

Now that the longest softball season ever has ended and we're back from Jamaica, our evenings should be pretty free! Of course there's always youth on Wednesday nights and then Small Group every other Monday, but still, that's a whole lot of Tuesdays and Thursdays with nothing to do! What ever are we going to do with ourselves??

Jamaica - Day 7

Going to be a short one! It got late quick and we need a decent night's sleep!

Spent the entire day by/in the pool...Hottest day of our trip!

On the way down the beach to lunch we saw tons of starfish in the water...They're big fat starfish unlike the little skinny ones we've seen back home! (And yes, this picture was taken in the incredibly clear water!)



And a quick picture on the beach this evening!

So now our Jamaican vacation is coming to an end...It's going to be so hard to leave in the morning (especially knowing we have a long day of travel ahead!), but it's been an a very awesome week! We'll definitely be coming back as soon as we can!

Until next time...All our love from Jamaica!

Jamaica - Day 6

Today was our excursion day and we are so glad we went! We took the Black River and YS Falls trip. Well worth it!

We had a wonderful bus driver/tour guide that stayed with us the entire time...He was an older man and so incredibly kind. It can be a little sketchy outside the resort, but he kept us very comfortable and made us feel completely safe the entire time!

We traveled about on hour east along the coast to the Black River where we boarded a tour boat with another awesome guide! The river was very scenic with all the mangroves growing everywhere and the mountains in the background.


We have some of these egrets around the resort and we learned this morning at breakfast that they can be quite the little scavengers! (One was hanging out on our table with us just sharing Matt's omelet!) - We particularly like it though when they get flustered and all their hair stands up on their head like this little guy here!



Our guide was one of the only river guides that's not afraid to get up close and personal with the many crocodiles in the river! He brought along some chicken and would stop the boat, call the crocs and feed them to get them to come right up to our boat! He would even reach in and hold them by the arm and shake their hand to give us a chance to pet them!



After our boat made it back to the dock we had lunch at a local restaurant. We were not sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our meal with another couple staying at our resort who's from Oklahoma.

After lunch it was on to the waterfalls! The countryside leading up to the falls was so incredibly pretty! It was the kind of place I (and Matt Nicolosi!) could have stayed for hours taking in the scenery through the lens of a camera!



The falls itself were absolutely amazing! There were guides there who would help you into the water and lead you right into the falls and take pictures for you...They were so helpful!






Also, a little farther up was a platform with a rope swing so you could swing off and drop into the water below....It was a lot higher than it looked, but we both took the initial swing and then went back for more!




We got back to the resort about mid-afternoon and just in time for the rain! We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed up for a nice little nap!

Tonight we had a late dinner at Bayside's and then stopped by The Caberet to see a cultural show...

It's been an exhausting day but tons of fun! Tomorrow's plan involves getting as much sun as we possibly can, hanging out with our Indiana & West Virginia friends and just enjoying our last day to the fullest!

Jamaica - Day 5

Another beautiful day here! (But hey, ANY day in Jamaica is better than a day back home and at work!!)

This morning we went snorkeling out at the reef. Very different than our last snorkeling adventure in West Palm Beach. Here there was coral all around...Like you were swimming all through it! Mostly just small fish in the area we were but several brightly colored ones! We had a disposable underwater camera with us so hopefully we got a few good shots!

Self-portrait on the snorkeling boat...



And looking back at the resort (well, PART of it!) from the reef...



Self-portrait on the beach before lunch!


We got in some good sun time at the pool this afternoon and were heading in to get ready for our massages just as the afternoon clouds were moving in...

Self-portrait on the way into the spa!
(And yes! We LOVED our massages!! Can we go again tomorrow??)



Mountain view out our door as we headed down for dinner...



Tomorrow is our trip down the Black River and to YS Falls!

Jamaica - Day 4

o our fourth day here and we've pretty much got the weather pattern figured out...Sunny in the morning until about 1 or 2...Then a quick shower hits. The shower doesn't last long and the dark clouds blow over to reveal blue sky again, but the sun stays hidden! Good weather for reading on the beach though!




It's just after midnight and we just got back from the chocolate buffet! We had to say goodbye to the first friends we met here, but we also made some new ones! It's so fun meeting people and finding out their story! Our first friends were two couples traveling together from Charlotte, NC. The six of us were actually the only ones on our bus from the airport to the resort. These friends have been to most of the Sandals and Beaches resorts multiple times, but this was their first trip to Whitehouse and they were just as impressed with this one as we have been! Yesterday, we met honeymooners from Indiana who arrived Sunday to find out their luggage didn't make it on their connecting flight! We felt so so bad for them! Luckily their luggage came late last night and all is well! Tonight we finally had a conversation with another couple that we'd been running into all over the place...They're from Connecticut, but the girl (originally from Taiwan) had lived in Columbus, GA for a couple years!

Tomorrow we'll be getting up early to go snorkeling and we may even try skiing! Hopefully we'll get some sun by the pool late morning/early afternoon before we head in for couples massage at the spa!

Time to crash for the night! Until tomorrow...

Jamaica - Day 3

Another great day on the island!

Both mornings so far we've had breakfast at Baysides...A very yummy buffet with everything you can imagine! My faves are french toast and grilled potatoes while Matt has a made-to-order omelet. Oh yeah, and don't forget the fruit! Especially the pineapple! Yum yum! It looks like the hard white part of pineapple back home, but it's so incredibly soft and juicy!

Our view at breakfast...



Laying by the Riviera pool...

The sea is directly to my right and is in plain sight from anywhere in or around the pool. You have your choice of chairs around the pool, chairs in the pool or floats in the pool...Yeah, with no kids allowed you can actually float in the pool! Oh and we decided today that this pool is by far the largest we've ever actually laid eyes on and perfect in every way possible! (Right down to the swim up bar with bar stools in the water!) And I just love the colorful buildings all around...

For lunch today we had some awesome quesadillas over at Arizona's...Also right on the water of course!



"Well hello Mr. Peacock! I was just asking about you! So glad you came over for a visit while we're just reading here by the pool! Go ahead and hop on up on that chair right behind us and keep us company!"



On our way to dinner...


(Yeah, excuse the odd lighting in that picture...Even though it was only 6:30 it was almost dark. Jamaica doesn't do daylight savings time so this time of year sunset is right around our dinnertime!)

Tonight was the Grand Buffet (overlooking the water!). There was so so so much food! Even if no one's in line in front of you it still takes like 10 minutes to get all the way through!





Also tonight was the beach party! Complete with fun island music from Silver Bird Steel Pan, "Crazy Chris" and a fire dude!


Tomorrow night there's an art auction so the auctioneer auctioned off a spa gift certificate and a gift certificate for a trip to YS Falls. We're planning on taking an excursion to the falls Thursday, so I figured it couldn't hurt to go ahead bid on the gift certificate and maybe get it a little cheaper that it would be otherwise...The gift certificate was worth $73 and I actually had the winning bid with $40! We were thinking it was a good deal until after the mini auction was over and the auctioneer told us that we were all getting the items we won the bidding for free! We were so excited! Definitely going to book our trip in the morning!

After that Crazy Chris had a bunch of us come out and dance while Silver Bird Steel Pan played...Then he'd call out a number and everyone had to get into groups of that number. I was tempted by the fact that the last five dancing were getting good prizes so I had to drag Matt out there...Unfortunately I was the one to get out after the first round, but Matt hung in for a couple more!


Now we're in for the night and thinking of all the things we still want to do while we're here...A week's just not long enough!! Guess we'll just have to stay a few more days! Maybe we'll make it back in time for the 4th of July!