Bahama Mama

We just returned from a week in the beautiful Bahamas!  We visited 2 islands - Long Island and Harbour Island - and my pilot husband flew us!  We had a fantastic trip and can't wait to return to Long Island.  It was just too beautiful for words.  This was also my first trip with my new camera!  I got a Nikon D5300 for my birthday and I'm in love!  It takes such beautiful pictures and I've really enjoyed learning how to use it.

Flying over Savannah, GA

Sunrise in Daytona from our hotel room

Our first time in FL together!

The race track in Daytona - right beside the airport 

Flying over so many island airports!

Our beach bungalow

Loved the screened in room!

GORGEOUS beach and water!

checking out Dean's Blue Hole

Dean's Blue Hole

 St. Peter and Paul Church in Clarence Town, Bahamas

St. Peter and Paul Church in Clarence Town, Bahamas

at the Tropic of Cancer!

Our Resort on Long Island 

The Resort from the sky 

My island friend

Conch Fritters

Island #2!

Corral Sands on Harbour Island

Corral Sands 

Our Private Beach House 

The Beach House from the sand side!  

The infamous pink sand

A Manatee!  She loves to drink fresh water from the water hose

Golf Carts EVERYWHERE

The resort from the sky 

Our beautiful beach house with an amazing view 

The Rock House Pool

Dive Day 

Dunmore Town

March & April Progress Toward Goals

The year is getting away from me!  So much so that now I'm doing a 2-month catch up and now it's the end of another month! ahh!

March:  

1.  Used Up Products:

• Two of the "It's a 10" Products:  I think I'm over these products!  The shampoo and conditioner (pictured here) are sulfate here so they don't lather which I don't like.  The leave in conditioner is an ok product but I think I will still look for another product.
• NARS Orgasm blush- this is a much raved about product but again, not impressed
• Blistex lip gloss - love it 
• Clinique mascara - repeat favorite

2.  Books & Magazine

• 4 magazines cleared out this month!
• 2 audible books - Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope and Entwined with You (Crossfire, #3)
• Captivated by You (Crossfire, #4) 

3.  Blog Posts

• 2 posts

4.  Get More Exercise

• January = 40.71 miles
• February = 41.11 miles
• March = 49.59 miles

5.  Scrapbook Progress

• January = 30 pages
• February = 66 pages
• March = 31 pages

April:

1.  Used Up Products:

• Bubble Bath - glad to see this go!  I've had it for YEARs!
• Purity face wash from Philosophy.  Love this stuff
• Bath & Body Works Travel hand soap in Paris
• Clinique Bamboo Pink lip stick - repeat favorite
• Lancome lash prep mascara - repeat favorite
• Smashbox Full Exposure mascara - repeat favorite 

2.  Books & Magazine

• 11 magazines cleared out this month!
• 1 audible book - Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies and the Making of a Medical Examiner

3.  Blog Posts

• 0

4.  Get More Exercise

• January = 40.71 miles
• February = 41.11 miles
• March = 49.59 miles
• April = 52.51 miles

5.  Scrapbook Progress

• January = 30 pages
• February = 66 pages
• March = 31 pages
• April = 3 pages

Night Away in Nashville

Well, my travels continue!  At least this time it was for fun and with my sweet husband.  Saturday we hit the road and headed to Nashville (in the rain) for the night.  His best friend and girlfriend flew into town so we thought it was the perfect way to get to spend some time with them and see a town we enjoy.  Nashville was CRAZY packed!  So much was going on this weekend -- the SEC Basketball Championship games (Kentucky fans were everywhere), St. Patrick's Day Parties and Parades, concerts and the usual tourists.  We picked Ross and his girlfriend Alissa up at the airport and headed downtown for lunch at a Mexican place.  After a much needed meal, we checked into our hotels and freshened up before our dinner reservations at City House.  They had the BEST pizza!!! It was like I was back in Italy it was that amazing.  

The happy couples

The remnants of dessert

The best buds -- we figured out they hadn't seen each other since Christmas 2013!

   

After dinner, we caught a cab to downtown and hit some bars.  Everything was soooo crowded it made it hard to talk and move around and let's be honest, Adam and I were ready for bed.  We are not club goers!!  Plus, give us some credit, we are use to EST.  We walked back to the hotel and called it a night. 

Sunday morning, we met back up for breakfast at The Tavern.  Adam and I got there about 30 minutes before it opened which was good because there was already a line forming!  We waited for Ross and his girlfriend to join us and were ready when it opened at 10.  It was crazy packed in no time at all.  The food was really good there too.  Sunday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous spring day!  Hello sunshine!!! 

 

After breakfast, we headed to Centennial Park to check out the Parthenon.  It was the perfect day to walk around and just take it easy.  The Parthenon was really cool to see too and again, took me back to Rome!  Looks so much like the real one!  So random that it's just in the middle of a park in Nashville.  Fun place to take some pics though!

and my favorite shot -- a selfie with a selfie!

From here, we grabbed some Starbucks and headed over to another park nearby - Bicentennial Park - and sat where we had a view of the Capital and just hung out in the sun.  

Then, we dropped Ross and his girlfriend off downtown and Adam and I hit the road.  He did let me stop for about 45 minutes at Opry Mills while he took a cat nap in the car.  I picked up some goodies at the Vera outlet and then we headed home to pick up Mr. Henderson.  Fun little getaway!

  

February Goal Progess

Well hello there, March!  March sure did sneak up quickly on me this year but with all the work travel lately, everything is crazy!  I got home from what's my last planned work trip Friday and hope that's it for a while!  We had our Division HR meeting in the beautiful city of Savannah.  I hadn't been to Savannah since 2003 and it's just as gorgeous now as it was then. I can tell with all the traveling I haven't been using up as many beauty products and reading as many books as I would like! 

 

1.  Used Up Products:

1. Only 1 this month - Bath & Body Works Sweet cinnamon Pumpkin Golden Sugar Scrub.  While I LOVE this scent and the idea of a scrub, I find this particular product hard to use.  It also got really clumpy toward the end of the tube.

2.  Books & Magazine

• 12 magazines cleared out this month!
• 1 audible book - Upstairs at the White House:  My Life with the First Ladies.  I LOVED this book and was so sad when it ended!  I learned so much about the different Presidents and First Ladies.  Highly recommend it. 

3.  Blog Posts

• 2 posts

4.  Get More Exercise

• January = 40.71 miles
• February = 41.11 miles

5.  Scrapbook Progress

• January = 30 pages
• February = 66 pages

I feel great about my scrapbook progress this year, especially given how little I've been home!!  I am FINALLY less than 3 years (just barely but it counts!) behind and I feel like I can meet my goal of catching up! 

How is the New Year treating you??

January Goal Progress

Can you believe we are already at the end of February!?  Where is the year going?  Well, I guess my year has been spent traveling all over the us.  A week in Mobile, a week in Niagara, a visit to WV, a week in Las Vegas and next week -- spent in Savannah.

All the travel has been impacting my goals!

1.  Used Up Products:

1. It's a 10 Miracle Moisture Shampoo - not really a fan.  It doesn't lather because it's sulfate free and it's very pricey.  Will not repurchase after I use up the other bottle.
2. Clinique High Impact Mascara - I typically like all Clinique mascaras.  I would repurchase this one.  Goes on night and the black is a great everyday color.  

2.  Books & Magazine

• 9 Magazines this month!  Working on a few audible books but haven't finished yet

3.  Blog Posts

• Only managed 2 in January

4.  Get More Exercise

• January = 40.71 miles

5.  Scrapbook Progress

• January = 30 pages

What I'm Loving Lately

I've had this draft waiting for me for weeks now but the last few months have been insane!  I've been traveling every other week for work and it's definitely cutting into a lot of my down time.  My scrapbooking is at a lull as well as several other projects around the house.  Hopefully the travel will be winding down soon.  I thought this would be a fun place to collect some things that I've come across since the beginning of the year that I'm just loving!  Read on for more...

I'm a big Fiesta collector and something I've been wanting for a while was a party server.  I was browsing Kohl's website and found that Fiesta now makes a server in 2 different colors!  The only thing I'm not so sure about with this set is that each piece is separate so I'll have to see how it does when I'm actually using it.    

My sweet husband finally put an extra shelf up in our laundry room!  I bought this wire shelf about a year ago and we just never got to putting it up.  Once it was up (and secure in the studs) I thought it was the perfect place to store my KitchenAid (instead of on the counter).  Love having the space to hang up clothes from the dryer vs on the door frame.

How awesome are these coasters?? Don't mind the sideways picture, I couldn't get it to rotate!  I am so pleased with the quality and got them for a great price from Shutterfly.  I will keep these in mind for a gift in the future.

I picked up this adorable snowman when we made our day trip to the Biltmore a couple weeks ago.  I also got one for my Mom and left it for her to find after we headed back home.

This is the first winter in a while that I've gotten all my snowmen decor out.  I forgot about this adorable slate my mom for me a few years ago.  I smile everytime I see it.

My mirror tray was the deal of the month!  I had been wanting a mirror tray since about November but hadn't been able to find exactly what I wanted.  I knew Target had this one but didn't want to pay $35-40.  Well, I ran to Target during lunch one day and happened to find the tray on clearance!  I snagged it for less than $10!  I LOVE it.

Another love is my new Tory Burch perfume!  Smells soooo good!!

I wanted to get a new pair of Uggs and had my eye on the Bailey button but then I saw these blinged out ones on Uggs website and knew I had to have them.  Plus, I snagged an awesome deal the day after Christmas - it was 11% back on ebates, free shipping and no tax since I shipped it to my parent's in WV.

Adam's a coffee drinker and doesn't make many requests so when he asked me to find a Keurig for him, I was on it!  We have enjoyed making his coffee and apple cider in it and have also discovered that hot chocolate is amazing as well!  We got this model and also a storage drawer that the toaster fits perfectly on.