What's Up Wednesday

The last Wednesday of every month I link up with Mel at The Larson Lingo, Shay at Mix and Match Family, and Sheaffer at Pinterest Told Me To. 

 1. What we're eating this week...

You can find Maddie Jane eating all the blueberries, and blueberry muffins, and blueberry yogurt.. and sneaking Molly a bite too :)

Meanwhile, us parents are having..

Sunday: Butternut Squash Ravioli & Side Salad
Monday: Breakfast for Dinner!
Tuesday: Baked Cod & Squash Casserole
Wednesday: Chicken Fried Rice
Thursday: Chicken Sausage Pizza
Friday: Out to Eat! 

2. What I'm reminiscing about...
Getting back from our 10 day vacation and celebrating our favorite guy's birthday and Easter all on the same day!

His cake that I make every single year (key lime) completely flopped this year.. Ugh. So I scooped all the crumbs out, threw my homemade cream cheese frosting on top, and plopped a candle in it. Totally tastes the same, right?! 

Maddie Jane loved helping open presents! 

And was pumped to find out she got some too!! 

Maddie had quite the spread with both of my parents sending boxes of stuff too! 

3. What I'm loving... 
This girl's BIG personality. She is so much fun!! She always has us laughing.
If any of you know her cousin Barrett... they are two peas in a pod!! 

If it was up to her, she would be outside ALL day, EVERY day. 

Good thing this little family of mine will have a big yard in Georgia to run around in 30 days. I repeat, 30 DAYS.

4. What we've been up to...
A little coloring in our book from Gigi..

A little outdoor family dinner time at our favorite pizza spot..

Some serious relaxing after our big travels earlier in the month..

And soaking up the last bit of the pretty perfect California weather..

With lots of family walks.. that conveniently end up at Penguin's ice cream :) 

5. What I'm dreading... 
Getting this girl to slooowww down and convince her that she is only a year and a half.. 

She insists on doing EVERY thing by herself and doesn't like to be held or hold anyone's hand..

And then we end up with accidents like this.. (Side note: This was partially my fault. She fell when I was trying to take her picture.. And I am STILL sick to my stomach about it. Lesson learned. Put down the camera, Mama..)

6. What I'm working on...
Packing all the boxes!! We packed 13 boxes last weekend!! We didn't intend on doing that much, but we needed to take apart the book shelf to have somewhere to store the boxes..We are excited to get the ball rolling! And Maddie is loving having some extra TA DA stages!

7. What I'm excited about...
AJ got his FIRST first author paper published!! We had to break out the bubbly, because this was a loonngg time coming! So stinkin proud of him and how fast he has whipped this PhD out! 

8. What I'm watching/reading...
Southern Charm! It's the only reality show AJ will actually watch with me, ha.

And Designated Survivor.. SO GOOD.

And then all my other usual suspects.. Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Teen Mom. I can get about an hour of TV in at night after Maddie is in bed and before I fall asleep. And man oh man do I love that me-time with a face mask and a glass of wine.

9. What I'm listening to...
With my insanely long commutes, I have been listening to Podcast to pass the time. I listened to a three part one called Making Oprah that was SO good. (Surely I wasn't the only 12 year old that religiously watched Oprah, right?? Man I miss her.)

And now I have started on Ted Talks. The first one I listened to yesterday was on Big Data (aka my husbands life) and it was so interesting! I was really doing it to just be a cool wife and impress AJ with some facts, but I got really into it! One Ted Talk and I already feel like my IQ has gone up a couple points, haha! 

10. What I'm wearing...
I have not done a very good job at taking outfit pictures this month.. But I am enjoying my new company's dress code! TLDR, it doesn't exist. So I am rocking allllll the jeans. And pretty much every top I wear is from Old Navy. They have some seriously good stuff right now. 

11. What I'm doing this weekend...
Hanging out with my two favorite people!! We have four weekends left to check off our California bucket list!

So several more new restaurants to try, hitting up our favorites one more time, the zoo, the aquarium, and dipping our feet back in the pacific a couple more times :) 

12. What I'm looking forward to next month... 
Did I mention we are moving?!? Because WE ARE. We still haven't quite decided on a house, but we are looking like crazy. We will most likely end up in Woodstock, close to my new job in Kennesaw. We have our agent Brenna videoing houses almost daily, and hope to have something squared away soon. SO READY TO GO HOME!!!

XOXO, 

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Cruise Part 3: Dominican Republic | Turks & Caicos | Key West

Day 6.. uhh 7.. I don't know.. We woke up in the Dominican Republic! Full tummy, full diaper, happy girl. HA! 

We had breakfast, Maddie was still sleepy, AJ took her back to the room and Mama had a mimosa by the pool!! 

And then read a little of my book in the shade.. 

And after her nap and lunch, we headed ashore to Samana, Dominican Republic. 

These cute little shops!! Too bad the rest of the city was meh.

While we were waiting on the tinder back, Maddie found herself a friend! 

We ordered Maddie Jane room service hot dog and fries and waited for the sitter to come for our BIG night. 

The Vintage Room!! Ahh the best dining experience on the ship. 

The last time we were on board, our entire family took over the Vintage Room. This time it was just the three of us so we got to experience it with some fun folks!! This was Ruth the Canadian.. it was her birthday.. and she was having a GOOD time! 

Next morning we hopped off the ship in Turks and Caicos! (That iPhone 7 new portrait feature.. SO good.) 

E had a pre booked excursion to swim with sting rays, so we snagged some water front beach chairs to enjoy the morning! 

We were docked with two Carnival ships, so people came in DROVES after a little while. We were thankful to have 30ish minutes of the beach to ourselves! 

THIS picture! I think it needs to be in the next Crystal magazine.. what about you E?? 

We walked over to Margaritaville and grabbed some drinks and fries to hold us over to lunch. 

And we headed back to the ship after a couple hours on the beach and the crowds were getting crazy. 

Maddie went down for a nap and I got a lunch by myself with a pretty nice view!! (Side note: AJ took  charge of all nap times so he could get some work done while she slept, I got to get some serious relaxation time. And I took over night time Maddie duty so he could take advantage of the casino.. EVERYbody was happy :))

Another night in the dining room :) 

The next day was a sea day, so we dressed comfy cute and climbed a LOT of stairs.. 

And enjoyed a really cool japanese breakfast in the dining room. (All the other mornings we did buffet breakfast up on Lido deck..)

And played around in Fantasia Kid Zone.

And looked for BIRDS!

That afternoon we got to see Honey graduate from University at Sea. She took a 3 month Apple course while on board and earned 3 continuing ed college credits! 

And then it was formal night!!!

We took a picture by these exact stairs in these exact same clothes 4 years ago! So well rested.. and skinny.. and tan.

On day two of the cruise Amy in the spa colored my hair. I loved it so much, I knew I needed her for formal night too. How amazing is this updo!? 

Honey giving the token Horne pose with dinner. 

And after dinner we headed to a show! 

And made it back to the room to relieve the sitter and have some after dinner drinks on the balcony! 

The last day of our 10 day cruise was also the last day for passengers on the World Cruise, who had been onboard for THREE months! So overnight magically balloons appeared everywhere on the main floor. 

We hopped off in Key West. Somewhere I was very familiar with!! 

Our view at lunch at the Half Shell Raw Bar! Fun fact.. my family spent Christmas here back in 2005 (??) and we were supposed to take turns cooking for each other every night and well.. we ended up here for happy hour every.single.evening. HA! 

So I could not wait to go back! And these oysters did not disappoint :) 

Our last night on the ship.. Maddie Jane eating limes to stay content, ha! 

This glass of wine is what our sommelier called a "Bulgarian Splash" when we just asked for a taste of the night's selections, haha! 

Maddie Jane enjoying her last big bowl of The Big Cheese and Barney at the dinner table!(juuuuddgge me all you want people..)

And then it was time for the big balloon drop!! 

Maddie was up way past her bedtime and we may have had a dance party in an empty club, and face timed Gigi, ate way too much dessert, and climbed a million stairs to make it to this moment, but we did it gosh darn it! 

Maddie and one of the VERY few kiddos on board.. Kenzie! 

Maddie Jane taking in all the madness! I hope you guys have me on snapchat and saw her face with the balloon drop. Pure JOY. 

And this was the aftermath when we headed to bed.. 

And I enjoyed one last Bellini Martini with my Key West key lime pie on our balcony.. 

And the next morning we headed home! 

What an AMAZING trip. We cannot thank Honey enough for treating us to such an awesome vacation. We had originally planned this trip with Gran and while we SO missed her presence on her beloved Serenity, we know she was beaming down seeing Maddie Jane carry on the cruising tradition :) 

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