Orlando

This past weekend we tagged along with Tyler on one of his work trips to Orlando. I didn't take a ton of pictures while we were there because honestly Owen and I did nothing but sit in the pool, eat and hang out on a porch swing that was at the hotel. I did try to snap a few shots by myself of the two of us and ended up with these:

While I was attempting to get another one of us on my own, I did have someone stop and ask if she could take our picture and we got this:

Not too shabby... I love when people stop and ask if they can take your picture when there is nobody else there to take it for you. I think it's weird when it happens like this...

On Friday after we were swimming we had some lunch by the pool and I struck up a conversation with some ladies that were doing a girls' trip (I promise this will have some relevance later). We got finished eating and said our goodbyes and Owen and I decided to go hang out on the porch swing that was at the hotel and relax for a little while. I was trying to take a picture with my phone when a woman walked up and just started snapping pictures of Owen. Didn't say anything to me, just started taking pictures... weird right? So I say hello and we talk for a minute and then she says "Owen, smile for the camera"... which I thought was really strange since I didn't remember ever telling her his name but then I started second guessing myself since she did in fact know his name. Then she says "I can't believe he is only ten months old." Of course I start thinking "What the crap? How does this lady know everything about my little guy when I've never talked to her?  Unless she was one of the ladies and the pool on the girls' trip and I just don't remember" So I say "now, when did we meet before? I'm so sorry I can't remember your name" and she says "oh, we haven't met, I just overheard your conversation with those ladies at the pool and I thought Owen was so cute I just had to come over and take some pictures of him, I love taking pictures of people. One day I want to put out a book with just a bunch of people's faces, like Owen's. Of course I'd ask you before I do it. By the way, can I get your email and I'll go download these and send them to you?" Obviously I didn't offer up my email address right away because this lady was sketchy. However, after 45 minutes of talking to her, I found out that she was just a lonely woman who travels and loves taking photos. I decided it couldn't be too harmful to hand it over (I'm sure there are a few of you out there thinking I am a crazy person for sharing personal info with a lady I didn't even know) but I did give her my email and guess what... she was true to her word. She went right up to her hotel room and sent over these (just a few samplings):

Now since I gave this random woman my email address and somehow she knows everything about Owen, please promise me that if Owen or I ever go missing that you will start the search party with a woman named Lucia from Minneapolis.

Does this belly make me look fat?

So when you move to a new city like Ft. Lauderdale, a city where it's warm, where you can get amazing produce year round, where you have a great running trail right by your house, etc., you really start to feel like you should be a living a healthy lifestyle. Tyler and I have been trying to make a few healthy changes in our lives since we've been here. For example.  I've been reading my Jillian Michaels cookbook and my Abs cookbook and not just reading them but actually making meals from them, I've been running every morning and I've even been getting all of my fruit and veggie servings in each day.

This morning Tyler and I went on a great run and played on the beach and when I got on the scale this afternoon I was pleasantly surprised by the number it presented to me. So this evening we were out and about running errands and decided to hit up The Olive Garden for dinner. For my main dish I decided to keep up with the healthy living and ordered something nutritious; however since I've been feeling pretty good about my healthy choices lately I completely indulged on the breadsticks. I had two yummy, garlicy breadsticks and was not shy at all about dipping them in alfredo sauce and not just dipping but practically licking the alfredo bowl. Yummy... and I didn't regret it one bit.  

After dinner we went to Office Depot to shop for a new desk and chair for our home office. We found what we were looking for and this really nice man was helping us out to the car with our new merchandise. Tyler went to get the car and I was making polite conversation with the Office Depot worker while Owen was winning him over with his stellar personality when out of the blue the man says "he is a cute little boy, when is your second one due?" as he points at my stomach. I let him know that I wasn't expecting and his response was "Really?" not, "oh, I'm sorry" or "It must just be the way your shirt is hanging" (that was what my sweet husband said when I told him... thanks T-Rhodes!) but "really?". So surprised that I was not in fact with child.

Note to self: Say NO to the breadsticks and alfredo sauce next time you're at Olive Garden.

Note to everyone else out there: Never ever ask someone when their baby is due unless you are 100% sure that they are pregnant. It's not a pleasant experience for anyone involved.

However, this little guy makes it completely worth that extra baby fat that is still hanging around... wouldn't you agree?

Gyro Anyone?

So Tyler's been out of town now for five days and we've been missing him like crazy but since we can't just sit around moping about not having him here, we've been trying to get out of the house and keep ourselves busy. Like tonight for example, we headed down to the Turkish Festival with my friend Melanie. Have any of you been to a Turkish festival? Well... I hadn't but now that I've been to one,  I suggest that if there is ever one in your town, you should definitely jump on board. Mel nor I had any idea what to expect and when we tried to look it up online to see what types of things go on at a Turkish festival, the website only stated that there would be food, games and fun. Not a lot of information but since it was a short walk away we decided to go check it out. The website was right... there was food (gyro's... yummy), games and fun to be had by all, the games and fun weren't necessarily Turksih but still...

For example... there were these giant plastic balls in water that kids could get in and roll around in (Turkish I think not, but still way fun)

There was a little petting zoo there. Owen loved it(even though he may not look like it in these pictures)

There were traditional Turkish costumes to try on. As you can see, our attempt to get Owen to wear the traditional hat was not successful so I wore it for the sake of a photo op instead.

There was also free face-painting for the kids, done by a clown. I don't really think face-painting is a Turkish tradition either but since it was there and it was free we decided Owen should join in the fun. How cute is his little red  nose?

This picture has nothing to do with the Turkish festival but it's a restaurant that we passed by on our way and since it has a giant shark out front we decided it was a perfect picture opportunity. I can't promise a Turkish festival when you come to visit but I can promise dinner and a great photo op for you at this restaurant.

Dreaming of a Nice Suntan

So I already posted some of these pictures on my facebook page but I wanted to journal them here as well. We took Owen down to the beach last week to see what he thought of the ocean. As you can see he wasn't too sure about the water, just wanted to be held most of the time. You might also notice that we were having a very hard time getting him to look at the camera, except when he was playing in the sand... he couldn't get enough of the sand.  The third thing you might notice are my white legs. I'm in dire need of the beach right now. It's pretty embarrassing showing up to church in a skirt and my white Utah legs (the ones pictures below). Don't worry though, I plan on taking care of that problem and getting Owen acclimated to the water quick enough. starting next week (yes, we'll be having weather in the high 70's or low 80's) we'll be down there at least two or three times a week. I mean, why shouldn't we when it's a quick five minute drive away?

I can't wait for all of you to come take care of your white Utah  legs on this beach with me... come visit soon!  

Commenting...

So I kept wondering if anyone was reading my blog because nobody was commenting. I figured that was ok if people weren't because it's still a great way to journal our little journey here in Florida however, I thought it would be nice if someone would come and take a look, you know, just to boost my ego a bit.  Well, today I talked to two of my favorite ladies and they both said that they've been reading  but weren't able to comment so I looked up why that might be happening (thanks google!) and I'm hoping it's fixed. Can someone try and comment just so I can see if the problem is fixed? Also... just to add a picture to this post... don't you love this little guy? I sure do...

Running

When my Grandpa Cushing was 49, some of his friends were going to run the Golden Spike Marathon up in Brigham City. My grandpa decided to go up and check it out and see what this marathon thing was all about. He got up to the start of the race and was chatting with his buddies and decided then and there that he was going to join them on the race. So he started running and he never looked back. My grandpa ran 16 marathons before he had to stop at the age of 66. Inspiring right? Who just up and starts running when they are 50 years old?

My love of running didn't start quite like that. When I was 25 I looked at myself in the mirror and knew I had to do something to shed the extra pounds.  I knew if I committed to running a marathon and told people I was going to do it, that I would have to do it. So, I asked my sister-in-law (expert runner, thanks Em!) for some running tips and a training schedule and the rest is history.

I LOVE Running... love it. I honestly don't think there is anything better than the feeling in the middle of a run after the first mile or so when you're right in the groove, the beat on your ipod is the exact beat of your steps and you look around and you are surrounded by beautiful scenery. I love the feeling when you pass other runners on your path and you realize you belong to the same group... you're a runner. Then the feeling a little later in the day when you're muscles are feeling it just enough to remind you that you started your day with a great workout.

Now, for the past few months, I have not been great about getting my butt out on the running path. I had a number of excuses, none of wich were truly legit but I was just getting a little lazy, so when we moved out to Florida and I was waking up to warm weather, I knew I had to strap those running shoes on again. Our friends Landon and Mel had told me about this great place to run. It's called the Riverwalk and it's conveniently located a half a mile from our house so on Saturday I got up and decided I would go and check it out. I ran a half a mile through our neighborhood and landed in the middle of running paradise. It's amazing...

Obviously, none of these pictures are of me on the running path but I haven't taken my camera with me when I've gone running because, where would I strap it? I plan on taking Owen down there in the next couple of days and I'll see if I can get some better pictures with Owen in them (since that's who most of you come to this blog to see anyway).

Isn't it gorgeous? I am in love... and I can't wait to take each and every one of you there to walk or run when you come to visit (I'm going to mention you coming to visit in every post because I think I believe it hard enough, it will come true).

Owen's First Steps

So these are actually his sixth or seventh steps. I wasn't in the room for his actual first steps (bummer) but Tyler was walking him around and Owen just let go and started going on his own. We quickly grabbed the camera and he was more than happy to keep it up. Enjoy!

Our Home and the Welcoming Committee

So... as you know, I had not seen the house before we arrived to move here. I was nervous and excited to see what type of house Tyler picked out for us to live in and what type of people awaited me in Florida. When we got to the house, I was pleasantly surprised. This was the first thing I noticed:

That's right, those are tiles on our front porch. Apparently, we live in "Historic Sailboat Bend" and these are pictures of historic buildings throughout the city. I love them. One is "The Stranahan Residence", one is "The Annie Beck House" and one is "The Broward County Courthouse". I don't know anything about any of these historic buildings but you can bet that I'll be researching each and every one of them. The outside of our house is basically a big yellow rectangle so I feel like these tiles really give our place some character.

So we walk into the house and my first thought is that the pictures that Tyler took did not do this house justice. I love how open the house is. It's got a huge front room and a much bigger kitchen than I'm used to. YAY!!! As we're walking throughout the house, I notice a pattern, there is a little floridian to welcome me to my new home in four of our six rooms.

Sorry the pictures are so so small but they were taken with my phone. So, these were my first Floridian friends. Two cockroaches, a worm and a salamander. All dead... fantastic. First order of business: A Target run to get cleaning supplies. I figured since we would be moving in within a day or two, we should get the house all good and clean before our stuff arrived. Needless to say, it was seven days before our stuff got here. I'll write more about that adventurous week in another post. Anyway, our stuff finally arrived on Monday and while Tyler was in Jamaica on business Owen and I worked really hard to get everything in order. This is what the house looks like now. Still some work to do obviously but at least we can live in it this way.

Kitchen

Living Room

Owen's Room

Owen's Bathroom (also your bathroom when you come to visit)

Our bedroom (obviously one of the rooms that needs some work)

What will one day be our office and yes, to answer your question, that is my husband wearing an afro to unpack his boxes. I love that man!

We also have another bathroom but it's nothing special and the guest bedroom but the only thing in there right now is a weight bench that Tyler's had since middle school. I promise that the weight bench will be replaced by a nice comfy bed by the time you come to visit though.

P.S. I don't know enough about blogger to make the pictures and wording line up so I apologize for my lack of blogger knowledge. It will just take me a few posts to figure it out.

Blog Name

Ok... so this blog name is super cheesy but my sister-in-law Carrie (who is an expert blogger) even agreed with me that a blog name is supposed to be a little cheesy, am I right? I think so... So, for now we are going to call it "The FloRhodeians", since we are the Rhodes and we are now also Floridians. Our first couple of weeks here have been an amazing adventure already and I can't wait to post about them but Tyler is out of town with our camera and who really wants to read our blog without seeing pictures? Nobody, that's who. So... I'll leave you with this for now and promise to get back to you with stories and pictures by this weekend.