Back from Sunny Miami!

Hello all!!

It's been a little while since my last blog post. I just got back from sunny Florida late last night. We landed in St. Louis at 11pm and didn't get home to Mattoon until almost 2am. It was a long day. Justin and I had a fantastic time in Miami visiting family and friends and getting lots of sunshine. We even hit the Dade County Youth Fair and went shooting with my brother! But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll be posting pics over the next few days and telling you all about our trip.

Now, my family is amazing. Just thought I should put that out there. My brother picked us up from MIA. He came prepared with croquetas and drinks for both Justin and myself. A malta for me and a coke for Justin - he's never acquired the taste for malta. :) This was the perfect start to our vacation. We then went to see my beautiful niece and sister-in-law. It's amazing how much kids grow in such a short period of time. We saw Bella for Christmas, and we could see immediately how much she's grown and changed. She has 8 teeth and she's on the verge of walking all by herself!! Crazy. I still can't get over how beautiful she is. It's strange how she looks soo much like each of her parents. A perfect blend. :) After that Jason took us down south to mom & dad's house and they had Pollo Tropical waiting for us. To those of you who live in Miami, this isn't anything special. But when you live in the midwest and the only "Latin" food you can find is mexican food, Pollo Tropical is like ambrosia!

The next day I woke up early and ran 6 miles around the lake behind my parents' house. The sun was shining and there was an incredible breeze. The lake was reflecting the sun - I could NOT have been happier to run. After that, we spent all day lounging in the back yard. This is exactly what I imagine a vacation being. Relaxing in the sunshine by the pool with a good book and a bottle of water. I love that Justin reads just a much as I do, because this is something we can enjoy together.

Later that night we hit up Sgt. Peppers (my favorite sub shop) with some of my favorite people - Duy and Lissette! After that we got some ice cream from Coldstone Creamery and chatted all night. I really try to like that place, but it just doesn't blow my mind. I prefer Baskin Robbins - but I digress. All in all it was a pretty perfect day. ::contented sigh::

Here are some picture of my mom & dad's back yard. It's a little slice of heaven to me.

The dogs we love!

In just 3 days Hubby and I will be flying out to Miami to visit family and friends for a wonderful week! We are sooo excited. Really. It's a little ridiculous how excited we are to be taking a vacation together. The past few trips I've taken to Miami have been by myself. I'm very much looking forward to just relaxing in mom & dad's backyard by the pool. Their yard is a slice of heaven as far as I'm concerned. Our plan is to make as few plans as possible! Our hope is to have some time to just relax in the sunshine and enjoy being together, hit the beach, maybe visit the Everglades, definitely hit the Dade County Youth Fair with some friends (yum!) and chill with family. All the while getting as much sun as possible. :)

Since we'll be out of town, Lucien will be enjoying a week long stay at K9 Estates (a nice kennel in our area). I hate leaving him anywhere, but the people at K9 Estates take good care of him and always have wonderful things to say about him. Needless to say, I feel guilty about going for a vacay while leaving Lu here. This said, today's blog post is dedicated to all the lovely DOGS in my life. These guys add soooooo much to our lives. I can't even imagine my life without my Lucien.

Lucien's first day with me. It was love at first sight.

My Lu was so tiny!

Lucien & Jack at Mom & Dad's in Miami. BFF!!

Luna & Gordy at Jason's in Miami.

Rocco, Basil and Micca at Jonathan's in Indy.

Cadbury Eggs everywhere I look!

So, Easter is fast approaching and everywhere I look, I'm surrounded by delicious looking Easter candies. So far I've been really good about not grabbing yummy things while standing in line to check out. Today my will power dwindled just long enough for me to get two of my favorite candies...

The only thing I didn't get is some jelly beans. I'm a HUGE fan of jelly beans. Usually I go for Jelly Bellys. They are soooo yum. So many flavors, too! But during Easter time I go for Starburst jelly beans. They're really yummy too.

So, in honor of Spring go out and get some yummy treats!

P.S. This is why I continue to run - so I can indulge in yumminess when the urge strikes :)

Harry Potter Mania!

Hello. My name is Damaris, and I am a Harry Potter fanatic. It all started when I was a sophmore in high school. It's been twelve years and it's only gotten worse. Thank goodness my Hubby is a dork too! :) He's so good that he's waited in lines for books with me at midnight and gone to more than a few midnight movie openings with me. That's love. ::contented sigh::

This year is going to be HUGE for HP fans. Not only is the first movie installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows due to be release on November 19th, 2010, but there's something even BIGGER happening this Spring. Back in 2007 Warner Brothers announced that they would be starting development of a theme park land based on HP's world. This year the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. The official opening date hasn't been released yet, but it looks like it'll be the weekend of May 28th (I've gathered this from the fact that vacation packages are listed on the website and available starting 5/28/10). I will be in Florida in 6 days and was REALLY hoping, by some lucky miracle, that the park would be opening like NOW. But alas, I'm out of luck. Oh well. That just means I'll have to make another trip when it finally opens!!!

Here's a link to the park's website.

http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

It looks amazing so far! I can't wait to stop and eat at the Three Broomsticks and have a glass of butterbeer, or send a letter from the Owl Post, or take a tour of Hogwarts - we'll actually get to see some of the classrooms featured in the films and, of course, the Gryffindor common room. :) Here's another link: http://screenrant.com/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-construction-photos-pauly-48645/all/1/

This one actually shows some of the construction photos. Very cool stuff.

Funny Feet!

Hello friends!! Today has been a gorgeous day. Lots of sunshine and temps at almost 60 degrees. :) I just got back from a nice walk with Lucien. He was very excited to be out of the house and there were a lot of people out with their kids and their dogs. Just the kind of day we love.

You're probably looking at this picture and thinking, "What in the world?!?!" Well, this is what I wore to the gym today. Goofy, huh? Last month I bought these "shoes". They're called Vibram Five Fingers. They mimic barefoot walking/running and help to increase flexibility and build the muscles in our feet and legs that get used so infrequently when wearing normal running shoes. Because running shoes are so flat, there are tons of muscles in our feet (for balance and whatnot) that we just don't have to use when running in them. I've decided to give VFFs a try to help strengthen my ankles. Last year I rolled my right ankle several times and had to take time off from running. I'm hoping that running in my VFFs will help to strengthen the muscles in my feet and ankles, so I can overcome my running problems.

Prior to today, my longest run in the VFFs had been two miles. I've read on running forums that you have to build up barefoot (or minimalist if using VFFs) mileage slowly in order to allow your body to transition without getting injured. Because you're using all kinds of new muscles, you ache in different places. I was also having an issue with rubbing, which was causing blisters. There's a company (Injinji) that makes toes socks specifically for use with the VFFs. I bought a pair on Saturday in hopes that they would correct my rubbing issue. Of course, there weren't any pairs in my size in a normal color. The only ones in my size had rainbow-colored stripes. Just my luck.

Needless to say, I got some funny looks while I was on the treadmill. I did four miles in my awesome socks and VFFs. :)

Come on, Spring!!!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Here in IL, the past few days have been pretty rainy and dreary. After such a long and cold winter, I'm more than ready to usher Spring in. I'm here and waiting with open arms for longer days filled with sunshine and warmth. In this spirit, I'm posting some pics of a trip that Hubby and I took together to California in December of 2007. These are sure to get me in the spirit for our trip home to Miami in just 10 days!

Across The Universe

Today was a day for reading & watching movies. I finished reading Good Omens. Loved it. I will definitely be picking up some of Neil Gaiman's other stuff. I also watched 17 Again. Cute and fun. Hubby walked into the living room during a part with Elf speak. Needless to say, he wants to watch this one with me tomorrow. Dork. :)

I just finished watching Across The Universe (directed by Julie Taymor). Here's a brief synopsis: An American girl (Evan Rachel Wood) and a British lad (Jim Sturgess) fall in love amid the upheaval of the 1960's in this musical featuring classic Beatles songs and a mix of live action and innovative animation. When Lucy's brother is drafted, Jude and Lucy take a stand as anti-war activists.

Loved this film. The music is pretty amazing. I think I'm now in love with Jim Sturgess (he's British AND he can sing!!!). All the music is actually sung by the cast - which makes me that much happier. Visually it was very interesting - there were some trippy parts. And Evan Rachel Wood - I'm getting to really like her. I watched Thirteen (she plays a starring role as a teenager who becomes good friends with a wild girl at school and quickly descends into a world of sex and drugs) recently and was pretty blown away by the gritty performance she put in. I also like her as Sophie Ann Leclerq in season two of TrueBlood. I'll be keeping an eye on her. :) If you get a chance, check out Across The Universe.

Enjoy!