My mom's visit!

Yay! My mom came down for a week long visit, and we had lots of fun!

Her flight arrived on Saturday afternoon, so we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner - mom's fave. If you've never had Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, you MUST. Then we went to the Shops at Wiregrass to window shop. This is a really REALLY cool outdoor walking mall...with major stores and a double decker Barnes & Noble.

On Sunday morning we headed to Walt Disney World for 3 nights and 4 days of fun! We stayed at Wilderness Lodge, and enjoyed great food at Coral Reef, Yachtsman Steakhouse, The Wave...just to name a few. I tried to sell mom on Contemporary Resort, with no luck. :) Everything we saw, we related it to how much fun Ethan & Olivia are going to have on their first visit!!

Wednesday night we headed back to Tampa. On Thursday and Friday, we putzed around...went shopping, out to eat, and to Clearwater Beach. It was a little chilly, but the sunshine warmed it up.

Saturday morning we had to be to the airport EARLY, so we headed out at 6 AM...the temp was only 30 degrees!! Eeeeks! Mom had a safe flight home, though ALMOST had to land in South Bend instead of Lansing due to snowfall!!

We had a great time...here are some pics of our vacation...

In with the new...

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that it's 2009...and that I've been down in Florida for almost a year and a half. So much has changed over the last 16 months, yet one thing has been constant - my friends and family.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you for taking the time to keep in touch. I know it's difficult when I'm 1301 miles away now, however you have really risen to the challenge. Thank you. There have been many tough days, and some good ones as well, and it's always easier knowing there are people out there who care about and love me.

I look forward to all that this new year will bring. A new beginning. A fresh outlook. The end of sadness. Becoming my old strong self again...in a new way. Standing on my own two feet. Being firmly planted. Renewed faith, hope, trust. Moving forward. I'm trying to make the most of this time, and really do what I need to do. It's a long road most days, full of twists and turns and bumps and dead ends and u-turns... Knowing that I have support is really important to me, so even if you don't know what you're supporting me through - it just matters that you're there. So again, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I love and miss you all.
xoxo