Lovebirds.

Could they be more in love?

The Florida Keys!

We decided to take a little 24 hour trip and spend our 4th of July weekend in the Keys! We drove down to Islamorada. It started out as 4 of us and by the time we left, we had 12 people! It was a blast and I can't wait to go back again someday. The drive was only 2 hours from our place...which could easily be a day trip. We stayed one night at the Holiday Isle resort. We snorkeled, visited with lots of people, listened to some live music and had a few "Bushwackers" (slushy Kahlua drinks...yummmm). I think next we go to the keys, we'll head all the way down to Key West! We've heard that it's definitely worth it to go there.

Some love from Florida...

Love and miss you all!!!
xoxoxo

Baby Delray

Meet our new addition to the family, Delray Apollo Benson Rada. (please, don't ask about the second name) Delray is 10 weeks old and he is a Maine Coon. Basically, this means that he will grow to be approximately triple the size of a normal cat. Maine Coons are very lovey, cuddly, smart cats. They are more like dogs than they are cats. The breeds nickname is "Gentle Giant". I never in my life thought I would own a cat, but I am definitely in love with this little guy. Him and Vayda get along great and he is so sweet. He has the softest fur ever and he doesn't shed! (Maine Coons usually never do) I still can't say I'm a cat lover (definitely not), but I am for sure a Maine Coon lover.

We hope the summer never ends...

I cannot believe that it's already June 25th. (Happy 32nd Anniversary, Mom & Dad!) I feel like we just moved to Florida two weeks ago. It's almost been 3 months already! I've met so many great people and have truly been the happiest that I've been in years. This whole experience has opened my eyes to what seems like a whole new life. New cultures, new environment, new job, more friends, etc. We had quite the scare this past Monday. Cory's company informed us that we were moving to either Fargo or Sioux Falls the following Friday. We were in shock and really didn't want to believe it. But nonetheless, we started making travel plans and phone calls letting people know we'd be back in the midwest in just a few days. Then as quickly as they informed us we'd be moving, APX told us we were staying in Florida. Thank god my work is understanding because within a 24 hour period, I'd put in a 5 day notice and then basically said, "Just Kidding! I'm staying!" It really all was quite an eye opener though. It was the first time I'd been upset in 3 months. It made me realize how much I love it here and how great my new friends are. We were supposed to have my "going away" party at work tonight. So instead...we're going to have a "yay! you're not leaving" party!

We have a few friends coming down here for the 4th of July and we still need to figure out exactly what our plan is for that weekend. Cory's cousin, Jeremy, had his girlfriend move down here about 3 weeks ago. Her name is Toni and we have become great friends. We instantly clicked and we have so much fun together! We all bought Incubus tickets for a show they're playing in Miami in August. A few of their friends from Minnesota are coming down for that as well! As far as travel plans go...I'm saving some bucks and hoping to go to New Hampshire in August to visit the Lemieux's. Cory and I are planning a trip to Minnesota to see our families in September/October. We're hoping to spend at least 2 weeks visiting everyone. Just in time for Dera's wedding, MSU Homecoming and Kristin's birthday!

An open invite still stands for anyone who needs an escape to South Florida. If no one comes before December, Christmas will be spent on the beach! ;-)

Angie in Florida + Meredith in Florida = Fun, Fun, Fun!

Me, Cory & Ang at our favorite club in Downtown Delray

Me, Toni & Ang...havin' a blast by the pool!

Angie and her fake boyfriend, my neighbor Cody.

Ang and Toni at my restaurant!

Angie loved these flowers and wanted to take the whole tree home with her.

Our first day at the beach. Angie fell in love.

About a week and a half after I got home from New York, Angie called and said she needed a vacation. Three days later, she landed in Palm Beach and we spent 6 nights and 5 sunny days together! The weather was perfect while she was here and my work schedule fit in great with everything Angie and I wanted to do. We spent three full days at the beach, some time at the pool, went out for food and drinks at some great places and I introduced Angie to all of my new friends. I was starting to think that she was going to cancel her ticket home and just stay here for the rest of the summer. That would've been fine with me! But instead...she headed back to New York...for now. :-)

New York, New York!

On Friday morning I flew to New York to spend an amazing weekend with my best friends. Me, Bri, Tasha, Angie and Nichole had quite the weekend full of sightseeing, lots of laughs, lunches, dinners and drinks and even a comedy club and some dancing. I'm not sure how we fit it all in but we did it and I think I may be exhausted for the entire week. We even spent Saturday night out with two other Mankato friends. A total of 7 Minnesotans out in the City! It was such a fun time!
It was so great to see Angie's life in New York. She lives right on Wall Street, directly across from the Trump Building (not the Trump Towers). She walks out her front door and sees Tiffany's every day. Pretty crazy. I don't think I could ever live in NYC but I will definitely be going back to visit sometime soon! Saying goodbye was way too hard and I am vowing to never go more than 3 months without seeing my best friend. :-)

Speedo Sunday

Well...we have a new little Sunday ritual in South Florida. The boys wear Speedos to the beach. Yes, it's true (and weird) but it seems to make them feel like they could take over the world when they have these little hot shorts on. There really is no explanation for it and nothing else to say. Other than...enjoy the pictures!

Bubble Blowing Skirt and Top GIVEAWAY!!!!

Bubble Blowing Skirt and Top GIVEAWAY!!!!

I was just checking out some different blogs and saw this. For anyone with a little girl...it's adorable!

The best nephew in the world...

Is already FIVE years old! Pascal turned five on Monday and I wish more than anything that I could have been in Minnesota to celebrate with him. I cannot believe that he's already been in my life for five years. I remember when he was a bald, chubby little baby that everyone fussed over and spoiled. I guess the only thing that has changed is he's now tall and skinny with a ton of blonde hair. He still makes me smile and laugh everytime I see him. He is one of the smartest kids I have ever know and he will probably make my heart melt even when he's all grown up. I love him more than I ever thought I could and can't wait to have a late birthday celebration in New Hamphire in July!Happy Birthday Pascal!

Nightime at the Ocean

We decided to check out the ocean at night. I could not believe how different it was than during the day. It was kind of erie. It was VERY dark. And it was soooo quiet. We all wore head lamps so we could easily see what was right in front of us. We saw lots of dead 'man-o-wars'. Come to find out, these can be lethal if they sting you with their tentacles. We've seen lots of warnings about them lately when we go to the beach...and now we know why! We also saw a giant sea turtle! He had just got done laying eggs and was heading back into the water when we spotted him. I got pretty close and actually got a decent picture of him.

I think this nightime beach experience was enough for me for awhile. Too many sea creatures way too close to shore for my liking! You never know when a giant could be lurking by shore!

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear DADDY! Happy Birthday to you!!!

I love you Dad. You'd better make those business friends of yours take you out and sing you happy birthday in Washington D.C.! Wish I could be with you today. Love you SO much!

xoxoxo

First Introduction...

The 30 Day Shred

Shanna...I checked out your blog this morning and you inspired me. I started The Shred today. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's Jillian Michaels' (trainer from The Biggest Loser) work out DVD. It's 20 minutes a day for 30 days straight. The average results are 10 - 20 pouns lost. It's 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs...three times in a row. I was skeptical about it...but wow, is it a work out. I was sweating 2 minutes into it. I'm excited to get shredded!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We found a great club that's outside...right by the beach!

Matt & I were quite excited.
Melissa and I were laying on the beach and realized this could be a cool picture. This is my first attempt at creative photography.
Cartwheels on the beach!

I did not use zoom for this picture. This guy was literally right next to my car. Along with many of his friends.

These rhinos looked like they were about to get into a fight.

Thankfully, they never did.

Sorry I haven't posted for so long. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Cory and I just realized that we've already been living here for 3 weeks. I cannot believe how quickly the time has already gone by. We've met some great people, ranging from bartenders, real-estate agents all the way to full-time golfers. (Dad, I've already got a crew of guys you can go out on the golf course with!) We've explored lots of cities. Ft. Lauderdale, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Plantation, Hollywood, etc. I haven't made it down to Miami yet but I've been told that it's basically just more traffic and even more expensive restaurants. We are definitely hoping to make a trip down to the Keys sometime soon. It's only a 3 hour drive to Key West...about 1.5 hours to Key Largo. Even the Bahamas are close...just a 30 minute plane ride!

We've already had some visitors from Minnesota! My good friend Melissa and her boyfriend Charlie came down just a few days after we got here. They stayed with us Wednesday through Sunday and we had a great time! We went on a safari at Lion Country Safari. You actually drive your own car through the safari and the animals can get as close to the car as they'd like. It's pretty strange having to stop the car to let a rhino cross the road. We spent Easter at Rapids Waterpark and had a blast. I felt like we were 10 years old. Some of those rides got us pretty excited!

The day after Melissa and Charlie left, Cory's mom came down for 5 days. We had a blast with her. All she really wanted to do was lay at the beach so she wasn't too hard to entertain.

It's funny to me that I couldn't get people to drive 4 hours to Iowa City for a visit...but now everyone is hoppin' on a plane to come down here. I guess that's how it works when you live somewhere with a little more atmosphere than corn, cows and bars.

Our new townhouse

Although we've lived here for a week and a half already...there is definitely still some decorating to do. We have barely been home at all. It's way too hard to sit inside and clean and organize when a pool is 100 feet away and the beach is only 3 miles. These pictures are mostly for my Mom...I know she wants to see exactly where we're living! ;-)

Since our apartment is technically "The Office" for the summer for our reps and techs, our main level has been somewhat converted into a meeting room. We did get a sweet projector out of the deal and can watch movies on it! But at this point...I've really only spent time in bed (barely), the shower (whenever the sea salt starts bothering me too much) and the kitchen (making salsa!) Our place is two levels...the main level is a kitchen, half bath, dining room, living room and walk out patio. The upstairs has three bedrooms. One is another office...computers, printer, etc. The other is a guest bedroom, all set up with an airbed for whoever would like to visit! Another full bath. Washer, Dryer. Storage closet...for all of Cory's toys. (surfboard, longboards, etc.) And our master room has a full bathroom also. Pretty nice when you consider we don't pay rent!

The kitchen...featuring Pascal's drawing of Cory & I on the fridge. :-)

This is "the office" - where we'll have our meetings each morning. Note the motivational posters on the walls.

Our big closet...already too full!

Our bedroom...we still need to jazz up the walls a bit.

Sun, Sand & Lizards!

The BEACH!

One of the many, gorgeous houses on A1A (the road that goes along the ocean all the way down to Miami)

We bought snorkeling gear! We didn't go out to any reef at all but we did see some pretty fish and we even saw a stingray!

This little guy was our first visitor shortly after we moved in! So cute!

Well we've only been in our new home for two days...but so far, we love it! We've been to the beach twice, met lots of great people at the beach bars and taken some nice drives to discover everything surrounding us. It's been around 90 since Friday and it's not too humid yet. And there are no mosquitos!

I never want to sit in a car again...

Well...that's definitely not a possibility, but I am VERY sick of the car. We left yesterday morning at 8 a.m. and drove to Memphis. With 4 stops and lunch it took us 12.5 hours...which was better than we expected. We had a great time in Memphis with Marian, her sisters and some other friends. I lived with Marian in Prague and have only been to Memphis once to visit. It had been over 2 years since I'd seen her and I had missed her SO much! We went to the Flying Saucer...a restaurant with an awesome beer garden. For the second night in a row, we got about 4 hours of sleep and hit the road again. We planned on driving straight through to our new home. However, the storms down here are insane and we just couldn't drive anymore. The rain was so hard that almost every car had their flashers on and was going about 30 or 40 on the interstate. People were in the ditches from hydroplaning and the lightening was so bright that it was almost blinding. Not gonna lie...I was crying and shaking in my car. So now we're sitting in a hotel about 6 hours from Delray Beach. Time for bed so we can get up at 3 a.m. and get to our new home!!! (and we both desperately need some beach time and a tan)

Utah!

I arrived back to Minnesota from Utah this morning. I flew into Minneapolis and was back in Mankato by 11:30. Talk about an early flight! I sat next to a girl on the plane who was flying to Florida to see her boyfriend. When I asked her how long it had been since she'd seen him, she said, "I've never met him." Let's just say we had some interesting talks on the flight to Minneapolis!

Our long weekend in Utah was great. The weather was in the low 60's which was better than the 30 degrees Minnesota is sitting at tonight. The mountains were GORGEOUS. Oh yes...and I learned a lot! Our office of about 60 people (reps and techs) sat through 14 hours of class to get our Florida licensing. The other Florida offices (Tampa, Orlando and Miami) were also in the class with us. Needless to say, it was quite the group. I counted 5 girls present. Talk about being the out numbered sex in this company. Everyone I met was so great and I am more excited than ever to get to Florida.

I cannot believe we leave for Florida on Wednesday! I'm not sure where the past few weeks went. Five days from now...I'll be laying on the beach, soaking in the sun. I promise the pictures will get more exciting once the Florida adventure begins!

This was right as we left the airport. I could not believe the view!

This was on our way to the APX Corporate Office...nestled right at the foot of the mountains.