Weekend excursion

A beautiful sunny Saturday deserves appreciation! This weekend Austin and I headed south to Ocala National Forest for some hiking and snorkeling. This park is huge and we only explored a tiny bit. We are eager to come back to try some more trails and do some camping as well.

We spent 2.5 hours hiking through the longleaf pine on the Yearling Trail

After our sunny afternoon hike, we took a dip in the freshwater springs. A huge school of mullet, a couple of bass, and lots of giant cichlid-looking fish. And I saw a big turtle!

What a nice way to spend a Florida Saturday :) We were tired after our busy afternoon but came home feeling refreshed and rejuvenated by our hike and swim. Looking forward to the week ahead!

Daily joys and challenges

Today after work, I had planned to clean up the apartment in preparation for a weekend get-together with friends. Austin and I got home at a reasonable hour from work and got started so we could get some dinner afterwords. We soon got to work until the sound of the vacuum stopped...apparently Austin had broken my closet door! He spent quite some time trying to get it back on track, with no luck :P

Once we were almost done cleaning and only had the bathroom floor to vacuum, our vacuum stopped...but this time for another reason. I knew the rotor had a tendency for coming loose, so I had Austin tinker around with it so I could finish cleaning. Once finished, Austin was still busy taking apart and attempting to put the vacuum back together. After some internal rearranging and almost electrocuting himself, the vacuum was half put back together and we headed to dinner.

Oh, the things that make life interesting! Certainly our simple cleaning turned adventure was a good excuse for a sushi and sake dinner afterwords :)

What have we been up to?

2012 ended with lots of fun activities and numerous chances to see family and friends. My sister and brother-in-law were in Orlando for my niece Sophia's 5th birthday to take her to Disney world. As her birthday gift Austin and I took her to Sea World. We all enjoyed the whales, sting rays, dolphins, fish, and sea lions. Such a fun experience to see the natural world through a child's eyes!

Sting rays galore! Sophia liked reaching out to touch them as they swam by in the touch tank.

We also spent 2 weeks in the Midwest visiting family over Christmas. We celebrated with the Anderson side of the family and my sisters (one of them newly engaged!) in Minnesota. My older nieces and the twins are growing so fast and are all so cute and sweet!

Austin found a fort at Sophia's house :)

Juliet wearing Leo's hat

My parents drove us back down to Nebraska and Iowa for Christmas Eve and day with my mom's family and Austin's folks. We had some time to ourselves before the next group came into town so we relaxed with some movies, lounging around, and did a little bit of work when we got bored :) We also shared some time with friends in town. Always fun to reconnect with our college pals! Austin and I were also glad for a chance to spend Christmas Eve and Sunday morning with my parents at their new church in Council Bluffs and to have some quality time with my grandma Perry.

Brian, me, and Scott after a Christmas Eve lunch at Bohemian Cafe!

The snowy view from my parent's house. The weather was cold but we ventured out on a warmer day to walk along a frozen lake and do some sledding.

After being dealt some bad letters, I had an epic comeback and beat both Austin AND my dad at Scrabble!

As the New Year approached, we opened gifts with my aunts and grandma's, including our traditional in-kind exchange. We had a Very Kitchen Christmas this year-lots of bar-related or cooking items were received, along with some nice camping gear and other fun toys for me (headphones and a kite!) and for Austin (shirts, slippers, other manly items). We then got ready for a houseful of kids as we celebrated Christmas on New Year's Day with Austin's family. Lots of yummy food, great gifts, fun games, and free entertainment from the children!

Austin teaches Elijah and Lauren a different version of Ticket to Ride :)

We love our cowboy hats!

2013 will certainly be full of excitement, challenges, and big changes as we both work towards graduating in December. We continue to be thankful for our wonderful family and friends that bring such joy to our lives. Happy New Year to all and may your year be as full of adventures as our will certainly be :D