remember when i used to be consistent?

alright, so...here goes nothing.

i realize that i have been remiss in my blogging efforts-oops. i've had a few people give me the 'just do it' speech. the worst thing is that so much time has passed, and so many things have happened, so this will be a picture/comment recap for the most part for perhaps the next two rounds in order to get caught up. and i will try to keep it in chronological order as much as possible!

this was the boys' last walk in our apartment complex before they went to hang out with mom and dad in mo, so that i could get things packed and cleaned up without worrying about entertaining and working around them-it was so strange to not have them around!

one of those times i hang out with nicolette and a short trip to get a mani turns into a full day-not complaining because i got to eat my last nami food truck meal at klyde warren park, and it was a perfect day!

...and what better game to end with, than scrabble!

 then i got to hang out with this group of ladies who make me laugh-so many times we had to laugh so we didn't cry! not pictured: joanne-who had to leave early, but i am SO glad she was able to join us, as she has played such a huge role in my growth while i was at Cabell, and a dear friend after! (i'm certain the boys would go crazy if they could come to your house again!)

after the few choice goodbyes, it was time to travel. let's be real, i was a little nervous about towing the car, but dad said i could do it, so i believed him! the entire time i kept mumbling to myself 'pull through only, pull-through only' to remind myself not to get stuck, because you can't reverse that junk!

truth is, i felt pretty cool parking with the 'big-guys'...until i opened my door and smelled urine in the lot-i'm almost certain there must have been some uncivilized men who were too lazy to go inside to use the restroom and just did the back porch relief....ew. 

the boys didn't get to travel with me, as they were still with mom and dad, but i did keep bruno's moose on the dash (i strategically asked my parents to keep bruno and chaco long enough for me to settle in, so that they could drive them down and fall in love with my area!)

and i pulled 'rattle-a-gator' in from the car to be my guard-alligator. it worked. 

finally i arrived! day one!! 

 the first sunset-document everything, right? it was beautiful sitting on the piling right off bradenton beach.

luckily before shea took off, we did a good walk down coquina beach to the jetty-perfect welcome back!

and a quick visit to the pet store to visit puppies! i think we checked out like 3 or 4 to play with-kinda like a library! shea has puppy fever!

once shea took off for her two week trip to amazing places, i got out to the beach to begin my morning walks routine. i'm working on my identification skills and trying to learn the differences between the gulls and terns, the cranes and the herons, the ibis and the other white birds...yikes. and it's going to get worse in the winter, because of all the migratory birds! ayayay!

morning walk looking east over the bay at the sunrise-you have to walk back into the neighborhood (which is literally 1 or 2 blocks)

this has become my favorite place to go park my car between cortez beach and bradenton beach because you can park and still see the ocean! heart! so i bring my coffee and partake at the beach while preparing for the morning walk. walks vary, depending on my mood. 

love this little entrance to the beach with the ever-popular sea-grape vegetation lining the dunes

when i opt to walk the park, the trail runs parallel to the beach, so i get glimpses as i go, but i can go at a decent pace, as it's a paved path, and on sunday early mornings, there is a fun little booth/market place...

i LOVE our bike racks (we live in manatee county, market, market, market!)

at the south side of the park, there is a small entrance to the bay, and across the channel is the hammock beach...

also at the south side of the park-beautifully landscaped with short palms.

i'm trying to get the timing right so that i don't get caught waiting for the drawbridge! but on my walk i usually cross the drawbridge into longboat key, because the have a great sidewalk-system, for walking!

view south from the drawbridge (hammock beach)

view north from the bridge-the south end of the park

i will say that i am so glad i finally made it to florida and that it worked out to make the move and continue working with istation! my dad was telling me about one of their church friends who suggested that i probably wouldn't like it for long, because of all the bugs, the heat and humidity, etc. i laughed a little. it reminds me a bit of HONDURAS, as the vegetation is similar, we have the pichetes (tiny lizards), i'm used to bugs (although i don't love the gnats and mosquitos, they haven't been as bad as expected this year), the heat-nothing compared to sps! and humidity doesn't scare me...and it has been rainy and stormy since i've arrived-much like rainy season in sps...again, not new, in fact comfortable. i wasn't too excited that two separate storms blew down two separate palm trees that i had to cut up into 4 ft or less segments so that yard waste peeps would haul them off! i was here for about 2 weeks before mom and dad were able to come down to visit and bring the boys to their new home! i will have to share how the move-in went, as it is a 'furnished rental.' start asking yourself how it was furnished...i'll let you think on that and get back to you!

coming soon: summer visitors, summer trainings, summer conference, other fun stuff, and then we'll start to get back on track! thanks for coming back, i'm trying to be better!!

say a prayer and send good thoughts to those on the texas gulf, and the areas inland dealing with flooding...we'll see what the aftermath leaves tomorrow- sad face emoji.

it's good to be back! much love!
julie
jrob
jules
juan
hey you

chronicles of a family reunion part 2

i woke up and it was overcast-nice. the heat has been ridiculous, so it was a nice change. mom called up to my room and asked if i'd had breakfast yet. nope. she said there wasn't much in the lounge as far as the 'continental breakfast' went. so we walked over to casey's and got their breakfast pizza. yum. and while we were walking(basically on the other side of the building), it started to sprinkle.

when we got to stone park around 10:30-11-ish, it had sprinkled a little more and there was wet ground and some puddles (nothing crazy, mind you).
so i got the boys ready and we took their exercise pen up, hoping for a small place to set it up out of everyone's way. they had a perfect little spot in the corner!

then while aunt kim, mindy, sue and debbie were setting up, i took the boys for a little walk. we found a nature trail and decided to check it out...their feet got all wet, therefore, they got muddy. but i think they kinda' liked it. it was a little different for them than our usual walks. lots of new smells.

by the time we got back, some more people had started to arrive. everything was pretty much ready around 1 pm, so we got everyone inside the lodge and prayed, and then came the gluttony...marvin, kim's husband was the designated 'grill-master,' and he did a fabulous job (with choices of hot dogs, brats and burgers)-love the brats! the salads were delicious (got seconds), and as we were eating my cousin, stacey showed up. [i'm not going to change it because it's kind of funny, but when i was re-reading this, i had to come back to clarify that we were not eating my cousin when stacey showed up. commas, commas. it should read: as we were eating, my cousin, stacey showed up...i missed a comma]

we are only a couple months apart in age, so as we grew up, we always got to hang out when we'd come up to grandma's. we'd wander around the neighborhood, and play. so it was great to see her and meet her new sidekick and love of her life...when she introduced him to my parents, she introduced him, saying, "you can call him pete or pj." it sounded like: you can call him peterpeejay. so i made sure my parents knew it was one or the other, not a hyphenated name.

i cannot believe how stinkin big all of my cousins' children are! what in the world! i made sure that the little ones knew not to feed the dogs. i think chaco did a pretty good job at deterring them from reaching into the cage-he's the barker...he barks at little children. the littler they are the more anxious he is about them, add flip flops flopping around, and it just gets worse! i kept a vigilant eye on him, because while bruno would never bite a child, i cannot vouch for chaco if someone was in his face and bothering him...i doubt it, but those would be famous last words.

the dogs don't really like to be held, and all of the kids really wanted to hold them. i felt bad saying no, but from past experience, they just get very squirmy and try to jump. that scares me because the doctor has said that they have week knees anyway. last thing i need would be to have to find a vet in sioux city and mess up the whole trip.

at one point, i was over by the dog-pen (don't worry, i did not stand over there all day long), but while i was standing there, ralph came over and we were talking about what i feed them, etc...he and and mindy have greyhounds that they raise and he was telling me that the company that produces canin royal actually has a plant there in the area and they also make another brand called tuffy's and that's what he feeds his kids. and while we were talking, i could hear one of the husbands of one of my aunts talking with my dad about politics, and i think my dad likes to rile him up by using facts, and making him stick to logic, and that just befuddles him a little.

everyone except grandma-they say she was sick that day

it was a good group-all 10 of the brothers and sisters were there, and most of the cousins were there, excluding my brother, troy, jess and mckenzie.  there was some ladder ball, volleyball and a board game going. there was also a lot of pictures to sift through, because a few people brought old Bibles, pictures and baby books, etc. aunt kim's husband made a great presentation on the laptop that mom and i watched when we first got there-it was really well done!

around the 3-ish hour, we decided it was time to go because we would have a long trip home.

the trip home was fairly uneventful-just after kc on the way to clinton, i was going a little fast and rehearsing in my head the story for the police...it went something like this: sorry, officer, i was in a hurry because i need to get to walmart before it closes so i can get a black slip for church tomorrow to wear under my dress. if i don't get it, i can't wear the dress, and i can't go to church. if i don't go to church, i might miss the opportunity to contribute to the mission fund to feed the children in africa. i am certain you don't want me telling people that you are the reason children are starving in africa..right?

when it started to get dark, we were in the windy (like it winds around, not like the wind blowing) roads of missouri. so i slowed down a bit and had my eyes sharp on the road because the last thing i need is to leave a bunch of baby armadillos orphaned by running over their ma. i saw no armadillos, but we did have to come to a stop because there was a fawn that didn't know how to cross the road..we were close enough to count it's spots...1,2,3...stupid deer. then we got going again and slowed for a raccoon crossing...and a little closer to home we saw a white horse standing on what looked like the embankment close to the road-it looked like he was too close to the road to be behind the fence, but he was just calmly eating. i thought about the mess that would ensue if he were to step out into the road. then i determined that he must've actually been a unicorn, and he will use his magic powers to spirit himself away to fairy land-catastrophe averted thanks to my quick imagination. i even told mom that he was a unicorn.

and that concludes travels to the family reunion.
julie
p.s. all of the pictures for today's post were courtesy of my aunt kim-unfortunately i may have left my usb connection, to download pictures from my phone, at the red carpet inn. boo.