the beach!

so austin and i just got back from the beach over the weekend. before we got married we used to go to fort walton beach/destin, florida at the beginning of every summer with austin's parents. but the year we got married we didn't go {we were a bit busy gettin' hitched and all} and we hadn't been back since. i'm not really sure why, but i'm sure it had to do with austin having/changing jobs and me not having a job/being in school. but not this year!

i really don't have that many pictures to share. mostly because blinding sun + greasy sunblock + sand + digital camera = hot mess. but i do have a few because i whined to austin that i just had to have pictures to prove we went on vacation i wanted to have the memories recorded.

although it was a bit seaweed-y some days for the most part the water was so clear!

we arrived on saturday afternoon and after the drive none of us were interested in going grocery shopping or cooking. instead we decided to grab dinner at dewey destin's seafood. and by "we" i of course mean everyone but me because they had zero food i could eat. they couldn't even throw some lettuce on a plate and call it a salad for me. i later had a frozen dinner meal back at the condo.

on sunday we hit the beach. obviously. and i slathered on spf 60 the entire week to keep from getting burned. #palegirlproblems. austin and i headed out to the boardwalk to wander around. a people watch. there's always interesting people-watching at the beach.

and bird watching. we saw lots of these birds. you can get crazy close to them and they just sit there.

we also saw lots of pelicans. a favorite.

oh what a wonderful bird is the pelican. for his beak can hold more than his belly can. he can store in his beak enough food for a week and i don't know how in the hell he can.

we grabbed a few drinks and then had dinner at mcguires just over the bridge into destin. listen to me here: if you go to destin, you MUST get pizza at vinny mcguires. it was delicious. no joke. and our server was ridiculously awesome. and the decor inside mcguires is... interesting.

{is this picture blog appropriate? idowhatiwant.}

on monday austin and i packed the cooler and the car and headed to the state park for some snorkeling. it was really fun. i so badly wished we had thought ahead to buy one of those cheap-o disposable under water cameras. but we didn't. but then again no one needs to be photographed with those goofy looking goggles and snorkels on their face anyway.

tuesday, wednesday and thursday were mainly beach days. although we did take a trip to the movie theater to see the great gatsby {two thumbs up right here}. we also ate a "celebrate rikki's graduation" dinner at callahan's one night. thursday night, austin took me on a date night where we went back to the board walk to people/bird watch, shop and enjoy dinner at crab island cantina.

we had yummy margaritas and and delish guacamole {oh, i eat guacamole now, who woulda thought?}.

on friday we soaked up as much sun as possible since it was our last day. and by "soak up as much sun as possible" obviously i mean hide under the umbrella to keep my pale skin from frying.

hiding from the sun all week was, of course, alternated with floating on the lacking waves water that is found in the gulf {i tend to prefer the scare-the-heck-outta-you-gotta-dive-through-em-to-keep-from-being-turned-upside-down-and-drowning-waves you find at the east coast beaches}.

after swimming/frying all day austin and i decided on the spur of the moment to drive back home late friday night instead of waking up super early saturday morning to head back. we had a full moon to light our way the whole trip.

and for any of you who have ever taken a road trip with me you know i am like an infant who falls asleep almost instantly in the car. but not this time! i'm proud to say that i was able to keep myself awake for the entire drive home. who am i? we made it back in town in time to get a good night sleep before picking up the pup in the morning.

she was pretty excited to see us. and kinda blurry.

and if you're wondering why we had to get back in town so early it was so we could make it in time for my sweet sorority sister, kailan, to get married to austin's fraternity brother, mason!

i may be a bit biased, but adpi+phi delt weddings are the best weddings.

and as much as i'm hating having to wait until july to take my boards, i'm really enjoying all the vacation-ing i'm getting to do during this time. i even get to head to virginia soon to see kasey!

2012 wrap up.

whoa man. can you believe today is the last day of 2012? and to think, we were all told we'd never make it past the 21st. just like past years, here's a recap of the year in my life/blog.

apparently the month of january was less than eventful. but the year did start off with champagne, so... no compaints.

in february we bought a house. kind of a big deal.

read all about our house projects here and check out our checklist here.

we also celebrated austin's birthday in february.

march was somewhat uneventful too. work on the house, go to school, work on the house.

we got lots of work done on the outside of our house in april when momma and my timmy came to see us!

and miss juliet turned seven!

school's out for summer in may. which, of course, meant more work on the house.

june is always a good month. this year kasey came to visit.

i blogged everyday through wedding week 2012 leading up to our second wedding anniversary.

austin and i took a little trip back home in july to visit the family.

dad and robin came out to tennessee to see our new house in august.

and lindsy and katie surprised me by coming in town for the adpi beta beta house opening. bri came, too!

september was a fun month, too. austin and i took a trip to gatlinburg!

you guys know my favorite month of the year is october. always. austin took me camping and i wore lots of camo.

and he made me a cake!

we did the usual thanksgiving thing in november.

and obviously december was full of christmas, family, and friends.

so that's that. 2012 in summary. i'd say it was a pretty good year. but i have to say i've got a lot to look forward to in 2013. big things. like graduation. and a job.

p.s. here you can see my year-end posts from 2010 and 2011.

surprises are fun.

want a quick recap of my weekend in ten words or less?

surprises, friends, ponchos, guns, mexicans, pirates, beta beta, and sisters.

oh, and saltine crackers. so i guess that makes like eleven words or something.

anyways. now for a real recap of my weekend. friday night, austin and i met up with some of my friends from pta school at nightfall to catch up and listen to some music. oh and sweat, because it was really, really, really hot outside. we also may or may not have complained about school stuff already...

but saturday was when the real fun happened. because i was held at watergun-point surprised by two of my bestest friends in costume at my front door on saturday afternoon. katie and lindsy promptly forced me into a costume {complete with crooked mustache} and made me dinner. who could complain about that? not me. cause there was cheese dip. and it was delicious.

then we reverted back in time to when we were in college and we had girls nights and we would listen to music as we all crowded in one bathroom to fix our hair, put on makeup and try on 47 outfits in order to go out for the night. holy moly i miss those days.

and i miss this ridiculousness in my life.

on sunday, we proved that we could be normal if we try hard enough and got all prettied up to attend the ribbon cutting and grand opening of our sorority chapter's new house. it's been like ten years that we've been waiting for that house. i only wish i could actually go back in time so i could live there.

katie, lindsy, me and brianne in front of the house with our letters.

we had a great time touring the house {and peeking in to every room and closet we could find} and seeing lots of our sisters. and feeling old realizing that we know absolutely no one in the chapter anymore... but it was a great time.

i'm so happy that katie and lindsy surprised me this weekend with a visit. and we gotta get on that yearly girls trip planning asap!