My Sweet Nanny June

As mentioned in my previous post, we lost our sweet Nanny June on July 6.  She lived a beautiful life of 87 years filled with nothing but pure love and admiration for her children, grandchildren and great-children.  She was a wonderful woman who I miss so dearly everyday.

Nanny lived and breathed for her family.  She loved to attend church plays, piano recitals, end of school year functions and so much more.  But, what was most special to me is that Nanny attended every single dance recital of mine, with the exception of one, and she was always one of the first people to kiss, hug and congratulate me afterwards.  She was a proud Nanny of all of her family!

Nanny loved Christmas.  Every year, Nanny handpicked a Hallmark ornament for each great-grandchild and each unmarried grandchild.  She spent hours looking through the Hallmark magazine and in the store until she found just the right one!  She loved nothing more than the family Christmas party and passing out each ornament to each child.  I, too, love my Hallmark ornaments and will cherish them for my entire life!

Nanny loved to spoil you.  She knew what your favorite candy was, what your favorite ice-cream flavor was and even what your favorite TV show was.  She was always ready for company and always had your favorite thing in the kitchen!

                              

Nanny loved the beach.  She could lay in the sun for hours soaking up all the sunshine rays.  She loved to feed the seagulls, pick sea shells and build drip sandcastles. 

I will miss my sweet Nanny June forever.  But, I will cherish our sweet memories forever and ever.  From sleepovers and late nights of playing UNO, to having her visit my home in Florida, to her falling in love with my dog Derby, to the best back scratches in the entire world, to her contagious smile and beautiful blue eyes, I will cherish these memories forever and ever. 

                                           

Goodbye Spring! Hello Summer!

This is a very outdated post, but worthy of reading.  It was to be posted toward the end of May, but do to busy schedules, planning for a move, my grandmother's passing and more, pictures were never uploaded and the post sat in my "drafts" folder.  Nonetheless, here it is (without pictures). 

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It's hard to believe that summer is here and June is almost over!  Wow!  2012 is flying by!

Here is a recap of what the Carter's have been up to lately.

April was filled with fun weekend roadtrips with friends. 

First, we ventured to Atlanta.  We packed up the car with Brian & Amanda and our 3 dogs and made way to stay with our friends, Kim & Mike.  The weekend was filled with lots of laughs, great food from Highland Bakery, The Flying Biscuit, Fox Brothers and more eateries, plus a day at Piedmont Park and a night rooting on a victory for the Atlanta Braves.

Then, we traveled to Jacksonville Beach to celebrate the wedding of Matt & Marie!  It was a LECOM reunion for sure.  It is crazy to think in just 5 years of knowing each other, there are now 3 married couples, an engaged couple, a baby and lots of successful pharmacists!  It was a great weekend of reminiscing, celebrating and having lots of fun together.

The first weekend in May would not be complete without a Derby Party!  We actually had a Derby-Cinco-Birthday Party...celebrating all things Christopher Carter!  The Derby Party was filled with Southern eats, horse betting, and the infamous Mint Julep.  After the running of the roses, we ventured downtown with friends for a Cinco de Mayo dinner.  No party would be complete without celebrating a birthday; and that's just what we did.  It was a great evening with friends celebrating Christopher's birthday, his Kentucky heritage and the fact that he looks Mexican.

Also in May, we ventured to Palm Beach with Christopher's family to enjoy our Christmas present from Christopher's mom, Gayle.  We spent the weekend under the sun, on the beach, playing games, drinking wine and just enjoying each other's company.  We always have a great time together!  Thank you Gayle for a fabulous weekend!

Not long after that, Christopher and I spent the weekend in North Carolina celebrating Nanny's 87th Birthday!  We were so blessed to spend the weekend with my entire family.  It was Nanny's request to have the entire family at her party.  Nanny suffered a stroke the end of January; recovery for her was good and she was released to live at home just a few short weeks after rehabilitation and therapy.  Then, 3 months to the date, she had 2 more strokes, this time affecting her speech, gross and fine motor skills.  Her birthday celebration was beautiful as she was surrounded by her family.  Nanny suffered another stroke just this past weekend, further hindering her ability to swallow and care for herself.  She remains in a nursing home facility and is very weak, tired and emotional. 

With the past 3 months of devotion to Nanny's health and well-being, my parents took a much needed break and spent Memorial Day weekend with Christopher and myself.  It was a great weekend filled with much needed R&R for them.  We did so much...as always!  First, no trip to Florida would be complete without a sushi fest at our favorite restaurant, Thai Wasabi.  Mom and I enjoyed a day at the Saturday Market, massages and pottery painting.  Then, we surprised my parents by taking them out on a boat around Treasure Island.  They enjoyed it just as much as we did!  I'm so glad they were able to come and enjoy time in the Sunshine State.

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As you can see, it definitely is a dated post.  Since the original draft, we have decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee as Christopher received an incredible job opportunity as a staff pharmacist at the VA Hospital.  We are moving Saturday, July 21 to Music City!  We just returned from North Carolina celebrating the beautiful and incredible life of my sweet Nanny June; as you read her health diminished very quickly over the past 6 months due to several strokes.  I plan to write a special post just for her very soon.  We hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying the hot summer days!   

 

 

Off to a Good Year!

2012 has thus far been a year of busy weekends, time with family and friends and even a relaxing vacation!

In January, we spent a day at the Magic Kingdom with some friends. We enjoyed a day at the park and a delicious birthday dinner for one of Christopher's co-residents, Amy, at the Grand Floridian. We also hosted a fun Super Bowl Party complete with tons of food, burgers and hot dogs on the grill and even a TV outside to watch the game.
February was complete with a wine tasting event and dinner with friends, a week long visit from Christopher's mom, Gayle, a chili cook-off tasting in Downtown St. Pete and lots of basketball watching preparing for March Madness!

In preparation for March Madness, Christopher and I ventured to Gainesville to see Kentucky take on the Gators and add another 'W' to the record. We spent the weekend with our dear friend, John Thomas, and his new puppy, Duke. Duke and Derby had a great time playing, just as much fun as we had with John Thomas.

Christopher and I just returned from a fabulous 4-day cruise to the Western Caribbean. The trip was so relaxing and so fun; we are already looking into planning our next one. He and I both had not been on cruises since our high school graduation trips, almost 10 years ago. Wow! Nonetheless, it was a great time filled with lots of sunshine, great food and drinks and sightseeing in Cozumel.

Now that Spring has sprung in Florida, we are looking forward to some beach time, planting a garden, continuing to be on the job hunt for Christopher, enjoying a beach wedding for Matt and Marie in April, traveling to West Palm Beach for a family vacation with Gayle, Gary and Brandon, cheering on the Tar Heels and Wildcats in the NCAA tournament and so much more.

PS - If UNC and UK make it to the Final Four, we plan to go to NOLA for the championship weekend. Monetary donations would be greatly appreciated for this venture! :)

Traveling Near and Far

This post was to be published a few weeks ago, but I forgot to hit 'publish post.' Although a few weeks late, here is an upate! No pictures at this time as my computer is acting funny.

Where has the time gone? It is now 2012, and more importantly the day of our second wedding anniversary, and life is good for Christopher and me. I cannot be happier with our lives as we have been so fortunate to travel, see lots of family and friends recently and just have some good ol' fashion fun!

As mentioned in my previous post, the end of 2011 was very busy for us!

In October, we traveled to Bowling Green, Kentucky to celebrate the marriage of Amy and Nick. Amy was in my wedding, and Chris lived with Nick for a month while on pharmacy school rotations; so, we felt very blessed to be able to witness such a joyous weekend of two great friends! It was a great celebration and a fun weekend getaway.

We also spent a weekend at the Disney Food and Wine Festival. This year we traveled around the world with our friends, Jackie and Alan. We ate way too much food, had delicious drinks and enjoyed the warm, sunny weather at Epcot.

November, let's just say, was very memorable! We spent Thanksgiving weekend with my family in New York City. There was nothing like experiencing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the hustle and bustle of the city at Christmas time and just being with my family in a different city. Our nieces and nephews were in awe of the parade and the city and were so perfect and well-behaved. We accomplished many things on the to-do list, as the Millers know how to pack in a quick weekend. On top of the parade, we also saw Santa at Macy's, went to Chinatown, rode the subway, saw a Musical, were live on TV at the Today Show, ate a Magnolia's cupcake and so much more. We would definitely recommend New York City at Thanksgiving to anyone; it should definitely be on your bucket list!

There is one word to describe December, busy! We had something on the calendar every weekend for the month and enjoyed every minute and memory created during those weekends.

Firstly, we traveled to New Orleans for a pharmacy conference and fell in love with this crazy, lively, fun city. It is great for a weekend getaway. Like all of our jet-setting adventures, we saw many sites, ate great food and just had fun.

Then, came my birthday weekend and I couldn't have been happier to not only celebrate it with Christopher, but my mom and grandmother came to visit. We did some shopping and ate sushi, of course! We also ventured to Tampa to see A Christmas Story: The Musical. It was just like the movie, pink bunny suit, bb gun, triple dog dare you, leg lamp and more. I am so glad I got to spend some special time with two of my favorite women!

Next, was a weekend of Tacky Christmas parties! Christopher and I went all out by creating our own sweatshirts. Imagine, your favorite elementary school teacher...glitter, sequins, bedazzled jewels and more! We decided these are going to be our go-to party outfits every Christmas, and we will add something new each year, only to make it more tacky and beautiful!

Then, it was Christmas weekend! What better way to spend the weekend than with both of our families. Although the majority of our time was spent on the road traveling to Kentucky and North Carolina, I don't think we would trade it for anything. We had a great time seeing our families, spending time with each other on the road and just celebrating the real meaning of Christmas.

To bring in the New Year, we spent it with Christopher's co-workers. Amanda, a co-worker and a great friend, celebrated her birthday on New Year's Eve. It was a great, Mardi Gras themed birthday bash on the beach at Treasure Island.

Now that 2012 is here, we are looking forward to seeing what God provides and where He takes us. Christopher's residency program ends in June, which means we are on the job hunt. We are open to any opportunity (within reason and Christopher's liking toward his career goals), but our first choice is to move Western North Carolina (Charlotte or Winston Salem areas). However, we are okay with staying in the St. Pete/Tampa area for just a little bit longer. All situations in the past similar to this have worked out for the best, so we will just wait and see what God's plans are.

We hope 2012 is off to a great start for you and that life is good as well!

Keeping up with the Carters

Wow! I have gotten really bad at this blog update thing. So, here goes another long-winded, yet filled with fun details all about our summer, update!

JUNE

We have a Doctor in the house! Christopher graduated from pharmacy school on June 5. It was a memorable weekend filled with many of the family and friends that we love dearly. We could not have asked for a happier celebration to celebrate all of Christopher's hard work and dedication. After all the festivities, we were fortunate enough to have both of our moms stay a little bit longer to help us pack for our move to Saint Petersburg. Their help was greatly appreciated by Christopher and me!

While Christopher spent most of the month of June studying for his board examinations, I took some time off from work and went to North Carolina for a week. I celebrated my best friend from college, Ashley, and her upcoming marriage at her bachelorette party in Wilmington. We celebrated her in great taste by visiting Duplin winery, soaking up some sun on Figure Eight Island and eating fabulous food all weekend long. After the bachelorette festivities, I spent some time at home with my family. It is always great to catch up with them!

Carolina Girls...Best in the World

Lunch & Wine Tasting at Duplin Winery

Out on the Town in Wrightsville Beach

Pi Love

Gracie & I at the Pool

Kai & I Riding in Grandma's Car

JULY

The first weekend in July, we made our "big" move to Saint Petersburg into our adorable, bungalow home in the historic district known as Old Northeast. It is a quaint old home with hardwood floors, a claw-footed bath tub, a fenced in backyard and everything is just our size! We absolutely love the area and feel we can make this area our home.

Christopher began his residency program July 5 and has hit the ground running in the program. He absolutely loves the VA Hospital, the staff and his co-residents. I think it has been a great fit for him.

I made a professional decision and left my job at Massage Heights. Between the extensive commute to Sarasota, and the unknown expected opening date of the Brandon location, I accepted a position at a managed health care company in downtown Saint Petersburg. It was an excellent decision! I am working for the Human Resources department and am learning new working skills and things about the company everyday. I am hoping to continue to plant more roots in the ground, so to speak, and continue to grow with this company.

AUGUST

We got to experience our first taste of what its like to be a professional as we attended a pharmacy conference in Orlando. Christopher represented the VA Hospital in hopes of recruiting current pharmacy students for the 2012 residency program. It's a life we can get used to...free car rental (we'll ignore the fact that it was a minivan) and a free night's stay in the hotel. Thank you US Government! Jackie and Alan also participated in the conference; so we were able to enjoy some time with them and ate some great sushi at Dragonfly. We couldn't go to Orlando without seeing Gary and Brandon. They treated us to a fabulous celebration dinner at Ruth Chris' steakhouse; it was a great evening filled with fantastic food and wine. And, of course, our weekend would not be complete without them if we didn't play games!

The Famous Godzilla Roll

Christopher's residency class has lovingly named time that we (spouses and loved ones included) spend together outside of the hospital "Spring Break Sunday." We have cooked out, gone on boats, played games, eaten pizza, etc. It has been a great way for all of us to get to know each other and spend quality time together.

SEPTEMBER

With some time off for Labor Day weekend, my parents took advantage of the holiday and drove down to see us. It was a great weekend packed full of things...from shopping at the outlets, to eating sushi, to playing games, to painting the inside our house! We certainly know how to do a few things in a short amount of time.

We got to spend an afternoon with our favorite football-watching family, the Bradleys. Boone has gotten to be quite the big boy and we loved our time with them!

Earlier in the year, Jackie, Alan, Christopher and I purchased a Groupon for a catamaren adventure in Tampa Bay. We spent a Sunday morning on the open sea with fabulous weather, food, drinks and company! It was so much fun and I am pretty sure we will do it again one day!

Derek Jeter's Home - The Size of a Best Buy

I made a quick 48 hour trip home to North Carolina to celebrate Ashley and Andrew's wedding. It was everything Carolina and was absolutely beautiful and perfect for the two of them! I was truly honored and felt so special being able to come and be a part of a wedding where two people truly care about and love each other.

My Beautiful Niece, Kennedy

The Gorgeous Bride!

Christopher's family came to visit us last weekend. Again, another packed weekend of fun for us! From shopping, to playing games, to spending time outside, to family portraits in Palmetto, we had a great time together.

I have recently developed an interest in cupcake making. I have brainstormed ideas and have begun playing in the kitchen. I think Christopher loves having weekly treats to munch on! In my dream world, I will one day open a shop called Sweet Southern Comfort and all its yummy treats will be inspired by the fabulous cities of the South. Take a look at some of my creations!

The Memphis - Banana Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting

The Louisville - Chocolate Bourbon Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting - Topped with Pecans

The DC - Spice Cupcake Topped with Cream Cheese Frosting - Filled with Apple Pie Filling

Now, that you are yet again caught up with the Carters, we hope this update finds everyone doing well and getting ready for the fall, and even, holidays season! It is hard to believe Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner! We will be traveling A LOT in the next coming weeks...Amy and Nick's wedding in Kentucky, Orlando for Epcot's Food and Wine Festival, Thanksgiving in New York City with the Miller family, New Orleans for Midyear Pharmacy conference and a quick drive to Kentucky and North Carolina for Christmas. As they say, it's the most wonderful time of the year!