Beach Bums

For the past month or so, Rob and I have been going to the beach almost every weekend... Well, this weekend wasn't any different, except that we were at a different beach... with a different agenda... with a different crowd (more on this later).

So, I should ask... how was your weekend??? Was it fun? Relaxing? Tiring? Ours was a mixture of all... Starting with Friday night, after a workout session with Kathryn, we had dinner take-outs from Boston Market. By the way, Kathryn just bought a new car... Her old one was a 2000 Honda Civic (teal color), which she's been driving since high school. It's sort of a tradition or a coming-of-age, if you will, to buy a new car (with your own hard-earned-money... not with the help of your parents) after graduating from college. And so, she bought a 2007 Honda Civic EX (black color), fully loaded, with a navigation system. We had fun driving it around and playing with all the cool gadgets she has in it! To celebrate her new car, we went to the Batting Cages after dinner. Well, she also needed to practice for the TMH (Tallahassee Memorial Hospital--her work place) softball tournament the next day. Her department, the Pulmonary floor nurses, had to compete with the EMS (Emergency crew) and the ICU nurses or something like that! Wonder if they won??? Anyways, after the tournament, she and Shelley left for Gatorville (err... I meant Gainesville... LOL) to hang out with their friends at UF--University of Florida.

Kevin, getting ready to bat

Kat, warming up

Rob's turn

Swing, batter... batter, Swing!

Anyways... Saturday, Rob and I headed to St. Teresa beach for the Syn-Tech Systems company picnic. We had so much fun hanging out with our buddies Melissa and Dan--as if we don't see them enough at the ball games already... LOL! Well, I'm really sore right now because we played beach volleyball for like 4 hours!!! It's always a great time to mingle with Rob's co-workers, since his company is pretty evenly staffed (ratio-wise of young professionals vs. the oldies). On the other hand, my workplace is not even close! Yes, to this day, at 24, I still am the youngest in the whole IT section!!! Oh well... So, at the picnic, we were talking to Guy--who just came back from his Germany tour and we were so inspired by his trip, that Melissa and I were discussing about doing Europe soon! I guess she and Dan have the same plans as us, so I was telling Rob that we should plan our European trip with them. That would be so awesome... Another plus is that Melissa took German, so she'll be our German guide (through Germany and Austria) and I'll be their French guide (through France and Belgium). Obviously, the UK would be fine, and we'll all just have to squeak by with our Italian! Hmmm... we'll see how this goes. It seems, we may have to do our European tour very soon, as mom was once again dropping hints of wanting a grandchild ASAP... Well, the same goes with my parents and it breaks my heart every time they ask :-( So, don't worry, guys... we're speeding up our plans so we can start trying very soon!!! Well, here are our fun pics at the picnic...

Picnic at St. Teresa Beach

Partners in Crime: Rob, moi, Melissa and Dan

Rob: "Am I tan yet?"

Ooohh... Fishing at the dock!!!

Melissa: "We need more WINE COOLERS!"

Boys: "Alright, it's beach volley time!!!"

We first had 5 players (me included--not in pic), then the crew eventually grew to almost 20!!! YEAH...

So, we drove back to Tally at sunset and we hurriedly got ready for dinner with my parents. We went to Outback (again)! Hey, what can I say? They do have some awesome steaks! I think, Rob's goal is to slowly steer my dad towards other restaurants besides Asian cuisine... LOL! After dinner, it was movie night at their house... we watched "Flight Plan", which I found surprisingly good!

Sunday was a busy day... with the usual chores and stuff, but on top of that--PACKING up for our trip!!! So, I'm pretty much done with the packing... Rob hasn't even started. He ALWAYS packs the last minute, well, he has all his ski-stuff packed, though... Why am I not surprised?!?!?! *SIGH* That night, we went out to dinner with mom, dad and Spencer at Ruby Tuesdays--another place we frequently visit! Dad just got back from Destin--after 5 days of golfing with his buddies and mom just got back from Atlanta--after almost a week of rendez-vous with her girlfriends. Spencer stayed with cousin Caroline, while they were gone. So, it was a good time to reconnect with the family, before Rob and I leave for our own trip :-)

Crunch Time

So, we have exactly 1 more week until we leave for Canada. The next few days will be insane... I kid you not! Well, tomorrow won't be too bad, but it may as well be our last gym workout until we get back, so I've got to find other ways to stay active. For all the days Rob and I skip the gym, I've started doing jump-ropes! I was inspired by (well, no other than Pacquiao!)... I'm not nearly as good as he is (nor as fast), but I am WAY better than Rob (and Rob's very athletic), so I'm doing pretty good, I must say! And I still do my strength-training--I use some resistance bands at home and free weights at the gym, so I'd just have to pack up my bands in my suitcase and I'll be good to go. As far as the cardio part, that will be well taken care of, since we'll be walking miles and miles everyday (doing "touristy" stuff). Plus, there's always a Gold's gym at every major city in the world, so if all else fails, we can always go to the one in downtown Vancouver. But, let's face it, who freakin' wants to work out when you're on vacation, right? LOL!


I've got so much stuff on my to-do list... which I better get a head-start on tonight or I'll really be pushed for time. Since I always write my list on a post-it note, it won't work this time. It just won't fit on it... I've got to write it down somehow and I always have access to the internet, so here it goes...

Thurs: 4/19
* Get gas
* Wash sheets
* Balance checkbook
* Pay bills for next week
* Water front porch plants
* Workout session with Kevin
* Dinner with Rob and Kevin

Fri: 4/20
* Run sprinklers for an hour
* Workout after work
* Go to dinner
* Charge batteries for camera
* Get swimsuit and stuff ready for picnic
* Pack beach bag (DO NOT FORGET SPF-60)!!!!

Sat: 4/21
* Wake up early
* Have breakfast
* Head to Rob's company picnic at St. Teresa beach
* Drive back to Tally at sunset
* Have dinner with my family

Sun: 4/22
* Laundry, Ironing, etc.
* Don't forget to wash ski-clothes!
* Clean whole house - dust, vacuum, etc.
* Measure suit cases and hand-carry bags
* Pack clothes for both me and Rob (2 weeks' worth)
* Pack toiletries
* Dinner with Rob's family

Mon: 4/23
* Strength-training
* Make dinner at home - baked crunchy chicken (see recipe)!

Tues: 4/24
* Appt. with Dr. Shafer at 9:30
* Grab dinner
* Rob's game at Tom Brown (9 PM)

Wed: 4/25
* Do laundry
* Last minute packing
* Balance checkbook and pay bills for next 3 weeks
* Get cash from ATM
* Rob's game at Tom Brown (7:45 PM)
* Dinner after game

Thurs: 4/26
* Leave work early
* Get luggages, suitcases, etc
* Prepare tickets and PASSPORTS!!!
* Head to airport @ 4 PM with ma and pa!
* Departure @ 6:45 :-)
* See ya in 2 weeks!!!


Whew... well, it doesn't seem so bad after writing it all down, eh? Haha! I guess I'm going to have to get use to saying "eh?" from now on :-) LOL...


Anyways... Oh, I wanted to share these pics. So, I "Googled" "Spanish Mackerel" to see how big they actually grow!And... my, Oh, MY... Can you just say, Rob and I caught the baby ones??? (***see fishing pics from previous entry)...They actually grow up to 7 ft!!!! Yikes! Here are proofs:

















Hey, JB, Can you imagine reeling these in??? LOL... Anyways, hope you have an awesome weekend!

Pêcher... Part Deux

Rob and I had a really busy weekend (again)! And you know what they say... it really DOES fly by when you're having fun :-) As short as it may have been, we had a "Fanta-Bulous" time!!! LOL

So, Saturday morning, we woke up real early for our fishing trip. We picked up my brother JB at my parents' house, then stopped by Coffee Beanery for breakfast. I really do love their coffee!!! They're slowly mushrooming around the country... Watch out Starbucks! LOL... Anyways, we stopped by to get our fishing licenses on our way to the beach house (which took a while because the cashier guy was having some issues with the register... JB said he "looked creepy!!!"... I definitely agree!!! LOL). So, we are now fully-licensed Salt Water fishermen!!! And our licenses are good for one year... Haha! Then, we'd have to get a new one when it expires!


After getting our fishing licenses... on the way to the beach


Dad's brand new boat


Spencer's testing the engine :-)


Leaving the dock (of the beach house)


My bro, JB... on the cover of GQ!!! haha!


With the co-captain, Spencer :-)


We got to the beach house just in time, as dad was busy loading up the boat in the backyard. Then, off we went to the bay and eventually into the gulf. The wind was blowing pretty hard and we encountered some pretty rough waves, so it was a rocky ride, but overall a gorgeous day! We fished for about 5 hours and sadly, we only caught one fish--well, ROB caught it! While we were fishing, JB caught sight of these huge fins, which scared the crap out of me because I thought they were sharks, but then it turned out they were dolphins :-) They were everywhere... and it was so cool to see them nearby!


The boys getting a lesson from Dad


Hey Mom! Are the fish biting or what?


This one's for the GQ centerfold!!! LOL


It's all about the bait, eh, Rob?


JB: "Uh, I see sharks over there!!!"
Me: "Eeek! Ok, let me reel in my line... QUICK!!!!"


The first big catch of the day!

Dark clouds started blowing in and we could feel the rain coming, so we called it a day. We were all so disappointed that we only caught one fish!!! But we didn't give up and as soon as we got back at the beach house, JB, Rob, Spencer, and I once again tried our luck and threw in our baits into the backyard waterway. A few minutes later, I, too caught a fish. It was the same exact species, size and weight as Rob's. It was a beautiful Spanish Mackerel!!! JB was upset that he didn't catch one, but he's definitely "hooked" on fishing now!!! haha! So, it seems like we just found ourselves a new hobby! Now, JB's planning on buying new fishing rods and baits to improve his fishing skills for our next trip (which would be after we get back from our Canadian vacation)! Can't wait for our next one!!!


MY TURN!!! Whoohooo!!!

So, we hurried back home to Tally, took our showers to freshen up and headed to the Tanguiligs' house for our Pacquiao party! After dinner, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep while playing with my god-daughter Rachel and her sister Andie in their brother's room! I didn't even care that the boys were all in there playing PS3 and being loud as ever! Luckily, Rob woke me up just in time for the Pacquiao-Solis match... and what a fight that was!!! I thought he would lose for sure... but then the tornado warning came on and cut off the program. Before we knew it, somebody was laying on the ground (TKO'd) and that's when we figured out it was Solis!!! We were so mad we didn't see the highlight before he was knocked out, but we're just glad Pacquiao won again! (Hey, there's always YouTube, you know!) haha!

Sunday afternoon, after sleeping in late and running errands, Rob and I headed to Jenny's house for Bentley and Helen's party! I haven't seen most of Rob's cousins since his birthday party, so it was good to see them again and catch up! Rob and his cousins were busy playing Nintendo Wii... Man, they get really competitive! Those things could give you a serious workout... Rob said he really did break a sweat! LOL... Afterwards, we had a quiet night at home. I've been wanting to see the "Lake House" and made Rob record it on TiVo a few weeks ago, so we finally watched it that night. Well, I watched it, anyway--Rob drifted off to sleep while laying on my lap... so, I guess he really didn't see the movie! He must've been so tired from our busy weekend :-)


The Wii addicts!!! (not in picture: Jimmy, Michael and Bentley)


Bentley... opening presents


She loved what Rob and I got her and started playing with it!


Rob: "Honey, I'm ready to go HOME!!!"

BMW Ultimate Drive 2007

Photo (c) www.BMWUSA.com

What an awesome way to start off our weekend!!! Today was BMW's Annual "Ultimate Drive for the Cure" in colaboration with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer organization. Rob gets an invitation each year to drive these BAD BOYS to raise money for charity. Of course he's already friends with some of the guys at the BMW dealership... That's been like his second "home" for years now!

So, we met cousin Jimmy and his fiancee Jess there... and Brian (Payne) showed up with another friend much later... (Where the heck were you, Saulsy??? LOL) ... We had such a great time!!! I suppose it's a wonderful way to do a fundraiser, but not if your husband is BMW-crazy!!! LOL... It was as if he were a child in a candy store!!! I think he's seriously thinking of getting another one soon... Hmmm... we'll see about that!

Here's Rob enjoying the Ultimate Driving Experience

I kinda dig the 2007 650i convertible... Next car? Maybe! But I think I'd rather get a Range Rover next--it's much more practical with kids :-)

Anyways, after the event, Rob and I headed to the gym... Then dinner with Jimmy and Jess at Outback... Wow!!! It's been years since we've been there... Besides, I'm not big on steak, but their Alaskan Salmon is very tasty! We really enjoyed their company and dinner (and pretty much the whole day--considering it IS Friday the 13th... not bad! huh?)... Thanks again Jimmy and Jess for an awesome time! See you guys again soon!!!

Tomorrow is going to be a LOOONG day! I'm crossing my fingers for a big catch :-) (Oh and for Pacquiao to win too... I heard his opponent is undefeated!)... Well, I better go get some sleep or I'll regret not getting enough tomorrow!!! Have a fun-filled weekend, guys!

Busy Week!

So, where to start? This has been an extremely busy week (and weekend)!!! I think the only time Rob and I spent at home was when we were (literally) asleep and taking showers!!! LOL...

Anyways... last Saturday, we had Cindy's baby shower at Marcia--her sister's house! I got to meet her side of the family. I've already known Marcia since she works with us too (well, sort of, she's an Auditor--CPA, so we develop the applications they use)! I had a really great time, as we played games like your typical baby shower stuff--TV children trivia like the Brady Bunch kids... and of course it wouldn't be complete without the guessing game (i.e. When will baby "Jenna" actually be born? What is her length-size and weight? etc...) I hope I guessed right. The winner gets a prize, supposedly... so, we'll just have to wait 2 more months :-)

Cindy's adorable little niece, Julia, with the other ladies from work

The Cake - made from scratch by Cindy's sister Marcia - the shower's hostess

The FUN part -- presents!!!

After this shot, my camera's batteries died :-(

Our Easter Sunday was spent with my family. After going to mass, we all went to have Easter lunch at Olive Garden! I was surprised my dad actually liked it... he's really picky with dining out... Actually, he ONLY eats at Asian restaurants, so perhaps when he takes my mom out on a date, they'll opt for something besides Chinese or Thai. LOL... I made my siblings Easter baskets like I do every year.... Yeah, I know we're all adults now, but you're NEVER too old for Easter baskets! And after all the sugar high, we were all dead tired... I was knocked out on my parents' couch, while my brothers and Rob watched The Masters, which had "Tiger" written all over it if not for the silly mistakes he made that day :-( Oh well... maybe next year! That night, we went to my in-laws' house. Mom made Rob and I our own Easter baskets... She never fails (every year) since I've started dating Rob! So, Easter was a really great day for us!!! Should've taken some pics, though *sigh*

Monday night was Rob's game... their First loss in like 3 seasons!!! I couldn't believe they've even kept up their winning streak this long! The boys were really upset and didn't feel like celebrating, so they skipped their usual BW3s hang-out... But then they won last night, so that was a good way to end the first half of the season! The second half starts in about 2 weeks... Here's another chance for an undefeated season guys, what d'ya say, Mainline Catfish?!?

Tuesday was another baby shower for Cindy and Justin (guys included this time)... We had some yummy food catered by Sonnys and very yummy Strawberry cake! It was really neat that I was able to help decorate, since the last shower we had at work was our wedding shower (exactly a year ago)!!! Everybody kept telling me to have a baby already so we could do that more often... LOL! Tough luck... I will start my countdown though... Ummm let's see... 4 years to go??? haha... Oh and my boss made me the official photographer... Dang-it! How come I always get to take pictures???... LOL!!! J/K... it was fun though... I took like 100 shots or something... here are some...

Not bad, huh?... doesn't even look like we're STILL at work!

Cute Cake... check out the booties!!!

We had 2 yummy cakes!!!

Cindy and Justin

They got a TON of presents... almost took an hour to open them! Of course, there's the occasional "oohs" "aahs" and "awwws".. LOL

The girls at the office and I made this quilt... Cindy's nursery room is lady-bug themed, so we went with the red outline... I hand-stitched the middle square on the 2nd row, with my initials "KW" :-)

Tuesday night, we had dinner with mom, dad and Spencer to celebrate dad's birthday... (which was actually Wednesday, but we all had other plans)... We went to the ever-so-romantic Bone Fish Grill! I love that place! They've got some awesome sauces and mouth-watering seafood! And by the way, dad DID get his boat!!! Yay!!! It's really cool... you can fit 10 people in it and can go 70 nautical-MPH! He's taking Rob and I fishing this Saturday down at the Gulf, so we're really excited, but first we have to get our fishing licenses Saturday morning! Alright... bass, grouper, flounder... bring it on!!! Err... no sharks for me, though, ok?!?

Wednesday night, Rob had their last game (as I've written previously)... and they, of course, ended the first half celebrating at BW3s. I, on the other hand, took my mom at their Pace Setter awards dinner for her work. This is her 7th time in a row, so I'm really proud of my mom because she's always been there at the top year after year! This year, the event was held at Albert's Provence (obviously a French restaurant). They always have different venues every couple of years. The food was great as usual... it kinda reminded me of the good ole' days. See, I was the president of Les Amis (French Club) in high school for 2 years and we used to have our meetings catered by Albert's Provence or Chez Pierre (where we had my bridesmaids luncheon)... it's so nostalgic!

My mom and her friends/co-workers

She kept telling everyone I'm her sister! LOL... Yeah, right!

The Pace Setter Awardee with the big bosses

Well, right now, I'm making dinner... (waiting for my baked chicken parmesan to cook), before heading to the gym. Kevin's coming over for dinner tonight and we might head to my in-laws' for dessert afterwards--left over cake from dad's birthday--a very sinful Snickers Torte with chocolate and vanilla ice cream! Hey, that's why you eat it AFTER you work out... they sort of cancel each other out! LOL...

The weekend plans...

* Friday night dinner with my family
* Saturday morning/afternoon fishing with mom and dad
* Saturday night Pacquiao boxing party (hehe!)... this is going to be interesting!
* Sunday morning/afternoon--chores and grocery shopping
* Sunday night - a joint birthday party for Helen and Bentley at Jenny's house!

Until next time... Adieu, adieu, adieu...

Allez Pêcher

Last weekend was very relaxing... and yes, we finally went to the beach! I love spending time with my in-laws, but I feel really bad most of the time because mom always pampers us! She always spoils Rob and I whenever we go on vacations with them! She always makes us breakfast, lunch and dinner whenever we don't dine out and she doesn't want you to do ANYTHING! I always try to help out with the dishes, but she always says "I got it, dear!" (In her sweetest Southern-Belle accent)!

So, besides being catered to by mom, Rob and I had a wonderful time. At sunset, we sat on our rocking chairs in the back porch, just taking all the scenery in. We laid out on the beach (yes, that includes Rob too), but didn't get any darker thanks to SPF-50! Since we haven't been there in almost a year, we've noticed a lot of changes. For one, they're starting to clear out the main road and re-paving it (It was ruined by several hurricanes 2 years ago)... They're also building a hotel. Now, I don't know how well this will be accepted by the current home-owners, because Alligator Point has always been a private beach and that was part of its charm--an unchartered territory of unspoiled beauty on the Florida Gulf coast! (Please let's not make it into another Destin or something!) They also now have gated subdivisions and are starting to build state-of-the-art beach houses with elevators and all the modern amenities you could possibly think of! Some of the older houses, which were also ruined by the hurricanes, are being gutted out and demolished and taking their spots are multi-million dollar beach mansions! Thus, driving property value sky-high around the area. Two houses down from our beach house, there's a lot for sale, which is about half the size of ours, for a MERE (**sarcastically**) $500,000!!! Crazy... I know! I had to double-check, myself... thinking "Am I really in Alligator Point and not Saint-Tropez???" LOL...

Here are some of the neighbors' houses...

Anyways... Oh, I forgot to mention that we DID go fishing!!! As the French title says, literally translated as "To go fishing"... We had no luck though... It was as if the fish were hiding in the bottom, watching our bright-green bait float by, laughing at us, and uttering "Go Fish, dudes!", like the card game we loved to play in French Club back in high school :-) Well, we should've known better... We were only practicing in the backyard--where there's this narrow waterway, where we park the boats and jet skis... Also, dad wasn't there to teach us... he left early to play golf with his buddies, like he does every Sunday! And speaking of boats, dad's birthday is next Wednesday and mom's getting him a new boat!!!! His old one broke and had been sitting in the basement of the beach house. Of course, it's not a surprise, because the Walling men like picking out their presents, especially if it's a car, a boat, golf clubs, pistols, machine guns, etc... (Right, Rob???) LOL... So, the last time we spoke to mom, she said dad went to the boat shop to see what they have... I'm not sure if he got it yet. He might have to order from a catalog. But, case in point, Rob and I are so excited, because we can now go deep-sea fishing!!! Haha! Like we're pros or something! Or better yet, mom and I can lay out on the boat, in the middle of the gulf, as if we really ARE in Saint-Tropez! That would be really really neat!

By the way, here are pics from last weekend...

We went fishing in the backyard

Rob's scaring the fish away! haha!

Me and my fishing pole :-)

The weather was gorgeous!

Spencer was "comft'ly" fishing in the gazebo

Mom's pretty flowers :-)

More of mom's flowers

The back of the house... Yes, mom's lawn is perfect EVEN at the beach!!!

Nothing much has gone on this week... I'm actually doing taxes right now! I had to wait the last minute because we owe the IRS, but I found a smart way to avoid the same thing from happening next year... Ok, here's the tip I got from my financial adviser... Increase your monthly IRA Retirement Contribution because it's tax-sheltered, which then lowers your Annual Taxable Income, which lowers (or evens out) your taxes!!! Voila! Besides, increasing your tax contributions is not a smart thing, because you're letting the IRS hold your money (interest-free) instead of investing it on stocks or high-yielding-APR savings accounts that you could be making money on! If my calculations are right, this will definitely work out :-) OK, I'm starting to sound like a Wall Street guru, instead of a Software Engineer... HUH?

Well, this weekend, I was supposed to throw Cindy (my co-worker) a baby shower, but her sister's throwing her one on Saturday and we have another one at the office on Tuesday, so I'll be attending both instead... I had fun picking out stuff from their baby registry yesterday... Lots of pinks and browns--my favorite colors :-) I just love baby showers... More so than bridal showers!!! Can't wait to see all the stuff she gets!!! Bon weekend à tout le monde!!!