Thankful for Griffey

Yesterday, we had a very lovely Thanksgiving day. I worked in the morning, which is always fun because we play the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in my movie room at work. Guests come and go, and we enjoy watching it ourselves. Griffey even got to stop by work for a little bit, which he always loves.
Around 2pm, I headed over to Sterling's parents beautiful home in Windermere. And Griffey was invited!! He got a bath, put on a nice bandana, and got the "don't poop in Mr and Mrs Brown's mansion" lecture. We were ready to go!

Mike and Rosetta have met Griffey in passing, but they haven't spent any real time with him, so I was excited for them to get to know the little ball of fun that is such a major part of their son's life.
For those of you who know Griffey, you know he is very sweet and loves attention, but he takes a while to warm up. He will approach you only if your back is turned to him. As soon as you turn around, he is back between his mama's legs. He is just happiest sitting on my lap, watching the world go round.
After he did his rounds of sniffing the entire house, he, to no surprise, jumped up on my lap and sat there. Across the room, Mr Brown was sitting in his chair and was quietly calling Griffey over to say hi to him. Griff would be interested, but last minute, run back to me. Eventually, the 2 of them ended up playing on the ground and becoming BFFs.
Griffey knew good smells were coming from the kitchen, so he kept going over to investigate. Mrs Brown was royally amused that he follows her around on his hind legs waiting for her to drop a big piece of turkey. She "accidently" dropped a lot of turkey. I kept hearing "you are just too cute!" coming from the kitchen.
We watched a lot of football, ate a lot of good food, Griffey did a lot of tricks and got a lot of attention. I feel very thankful to have a wonderful boyfriend with a wonderful family who invites me and my furry plus one into their home.
When we were leaving, and Mike was on the ground playing with Griffey again, Rosetta said "he just makes everyone so happy". I'm glad they understand my love for him. It warmed my heart.

He didn't even make it all the way home without passing out in a turkey coma...



He DOES make everyone happy. I am thankful for a well behaved, happy, fun, little companion.

Jasmine and Marissa visit!

One thing you should know about me... I LOVE visitors to Florida! I have all sorts of hook ups and fun things to do!
Jasmine and her friend Marissa came down to spend a week with me during the most perfect time. NO ONE is  at Disney World right after labor day. We literally walked on the most popular rides in the park, with no line.
Marissa had never been to Florida or Disney World so we had to show it all to her! We did all 4 Disney parks, as well as Typhoon Lagoon, the water park. The girls are really into Harry Potter, so they spent a day at Universal and loved that. Jasmine even got chosen to go up and was a part of some show where a wand chooses her and she does spells or something.... I dunno. She was excited though!
A few days, they did 13 hours of Disney, then came home to Sterling's house and got in the pool for another hour or so! I had to tap out and go to bed!
With different visitors, the trips to Disney are always so different. This one was especially fun, being Marissa's first trip and it was all so new and exciting for her, which made it fun and exciting for us!

 The girls about to head down Crushin Gusher!

This wave pool creates GIANT waves, and Jasmine is crazy and would swim to the very end and get lifted up 20 feet in the air on this wave. Crazy girl. Just like her brother. 

The girls went snorkeling with sharks and fish!

 The girls at Dave and Busters

 A few of my favorite gentlemen.

The other side of the table at our PRINCESS BREAKFAST!

 Love this picture.

Griffey swimming with his Aunt Jasmine

A BIG thank you to Sterling for letting the girls stay at his house and a BIG thank youuuuuu to Brent and Brett for all the meals and getting them in to Disney every day. You are all appreciated so much!

Atlantis

Over Labor Day Weekend, I was invited to go to The Bahamas and stay at the Atlantis with Sterling's family. He's an only child, so it was his Mom, Dad, Sterling and myself. This trip was kinda a big deal, because prior to this, all my interactions with his parents were dinners or sporting events. All of which have gone wonderfully, but this time I will be on vacation with them on an island.
All in all, the weekend was PERFECT. I loved getting to know Mike and Rosetta more, the resort is beautiful, the memories created are priceless and I fell more in love with Sterling.

This is our panoramic view from our balcony. Perfection. 

 Sterling and his adorable parents. Getting ready for our golf day!

 My little Tiger Woods. 

 My parents gave me a new camera for my birthday that is waterproof! We had soo much fun at the water park and in the pools with my camera. 

Beautiful.

Beautiful resort, gambling in the casino, swimming with dolphins, drinks, eating at fabulous restaurants, water slides, learning that I am NOT ok going through a shark tank on a water slide, getting to know the Browns more, creating memories with Sterling. 

I can't wait to go back. 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

So the Mariners were in town this past weekend!! A while back, Sterlings parents showed interest in going to a game with us so we made plans to go to the Saturday game. THEN, Brent and Brett called and surprised me by telling me they got tickets for the Friday night game! 2 Mariners games in a row! I didn't know what to do with myself.

 I love baseball so much. I love the sounds of the bat and the crowd, the smells of hotdogs and spilled beer, the tastes of hot dogs and spilled beer, and the entire atmosphere and joy of the game. Being in crappy Tropicana field reminds me of going to the Kingdome as a kid. So many good memories with the family. Baseball is family time to me. 

Friday night:

Sterling and I went with Brent and Brett. Our seats were in the Whitney Bank Club seats, which included unlimited food, beer and wine. YES PLEASE. And as if it couldn't get any better?? Felix Hernandez, the King himself, was pitching. 

 This is a view from our seats. With food and booze behind us. AWESOME.

The boy and I. 

Felix pitched a hell of a game, but we just couldnt' come through for him. It was definitely a pitchers duel. It was a fun evening with good friends, good food, good booze and some good baseball. 

Saturday:

Sterling parents, Mike and Rosetta, Sterling and I drove over in the rain for the Saturday night game. This game was a different dynamic. We had a rookie pitching and poor Charlie Furbush just couldn't find his stuff. We got stomped by the Rays. 

 Our seats were amazing. 7th row. I feel like I could have chatted with them while they were on deck. 

Sterling's mom and I had a good time checking out this gorgeous piece of man :)

I always enjoy my time with Mike and Rosetta and I am very much looking forward to spending more time with them in the Bahamas!!

At one point during the Friday night game, Sterling leaned over to me and said "I think I need to buy a Mariners hat for tomorrow nights game" My heart stopped. I had never heard such a beautiful sentence. As if I needed another reason to Love him THAT much more! Music to my ears. I think he makes a pretty cute Mariners fan, don't you think? I was a pretty good Falcons fan during football season too (sorry Seattle).

Baseball and people I love make me a happy girl. 

Exciting Month Ahead!

The next handful of weeks have sooo many awesome events involved, I can hardly contain my excitement.

The only negative is this weekend, Sterling will be in Vegas for a bachelor party. I'm not a fan of him being so far away. And Griffey lays on his pillow crying when he's away. I'm excited for Sterling and I'm sure they will have an absolute blast, but I enjoy Sterling being in the same room as me, making me laugh, playing cards, and being my partner in crime. Once we make it through this weekend, the fun begins!

The weekend of the 20th, my beloved Seattle Mariners are coming to Tampa!! (Ok, take a moment and judge me).... done? Cool.

I always have and always will be a fan of my Seattle boys. Sterlings parents asked me about the Mariners months ago and when I told them I plan on seeing them in August, they wanted to join!! I'm so very much looking forward to it. The 4 of us will be at the game on the 20th in Tampa, so look for us on TV! I'll be the girl with head to toe Ms gear on :)

The weekend of the 27th, my very favorite comedian is coming to Orlando, Anjelah Johnson. Do yourself a favor and google her. Just do it.

The following weekend is labor day weekend, which happens to be on my birthday. BUT it gets better than that! Sterlings parents are taking us to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas! I definitely get spoiled by Mr and Mrs Brown. I am soo lucky to be spending my birthday like this. The hospitality nerd in me can't wait to see the ins and outs of this beautiful resort. We will spend our weekend golfing, eating, dancing, hangin at the pool and the beaches.

And just when you thought my excitement was done, Jasmine and her friend Marissa come to town the day we get back from the Bahamas!!! I absolutely love visitors and especially when it's my sister or family. J and I always have a grand time exploring Orlando and creating memories and lots of giggling and being innapropriate. This year the girls are excited to see all the Harry Potter stuff at Universal. They are really in to that so I'm excited for them.

I'm sure there will be blogging with every event that happens, so stay tuned!!

I am the luckiest girl in the world...

Samantha, Adam and Washington DC

So after being scolded by my dear friend Terry, I realized that I am terribly slacking in the blogging department. I have been having tons of fun that I just haven't had time!

In June, Sterling and I went up to Washington DC for a weekend get away with my dear friend Samantha and her wonderful husband, Adam. Samantha and I were roommates our freshman year of college and have many wonderful memories together. We had WAY too much fun back then.

This is us from freshman year of college. 

Neither Sterling or myself had ever visited WA DC and we were soo lucky to have Sam and Adam as our Tour guides. Samantha works for the FBI and Adam is in the military, they were SOOO knowledgeable. Sterling would feel the need to put his "fun facts" in there as well.

Sam: So this is the Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot.
Sterling: Yup, then they designed the model T here!

It made it rather entertaining. We walked all day seeing all the things you see when you visit WA DC. Monuments, federal buildings, White House, etc. At night, we explored the bar scene in their town Alexandria, VA and found an awesome band, had awesome beer, with wonderful friends.

 Mr. and Mrs. Pedersen

 It was family day at the FBI building so there were all sorts of festivities going on, including this guy.

Samantha and Adam are the best hosts ever. Her cooking is AMAZING and their home is beautiful. I can't wait for them to come here to return the favor!! (hint hint)

Happy Memorial Day!

This weekend, Sterling and I hosted a Memorial Day BBQ/Pool party at his beautiful home. A bunch of people from our kickball team as well as other random wonderful friends. There were probably about 20 people at the place, plus 3 adorable dogs.

 This is Heidi. She likes chicken and beer. 

 Griffey likes making new friends. 

Half way through the day, I decided I needed a little nap so I went and cuddled up on the chair. 30 seconds later, I wasn't the only one with that good idea. Once Griffey got over the fact that he was sharing his mom, Buddy, Griffey and I had a nice nap. 

All in all, it was a beautiful day with good food, good drinks, and good friends. Happy Memorial Day!