Where did May go

I can't believe June is right around the corner! I've been keeping busy this week with other things than just applying for jobs. Finding a job is a job in itself I feel like. This past Saturday Ryan and I went to the springs to do a little snorkeling and see the world famous mermaid show. The water was 74 degrees and crystal clear.

A school of fish.

I love our underwater camera.

Sunday was my great grandmas 103rd birthday party in Bradenton. There was about 40 of us there at one time. My great grandma still lives on her own, cooks and has just started walking with a walker. She's a trooper and I am lucky to have such a great woman in my life like her.

She's still blowing out her own candles. 

My great grandma Hager and I.

3 grandchildren with their grandma and great grandma. 

It's been kind of yucky out the past couple of days so I'm looking forward to a good beach or kayak day soon.

Three

I like my new weekly goal. It will probably just take me through the summer but since I've started it I've already got lists of what I want to focus on. This week will be 3 foods I don't eat that often. We've done much better about not eating out as often as we used to. I honestly think it's because there is a lot more to do here. In PA when we had nothing to do we'd just go get food somewhere.

Lazy Moon pizza. My personal favorite that will be missed. As soon as I read that the plaza with Lazy Moon was going to be torn down I knew I needed once last slice and since I'm not going to be in Orlando any time soon I had my sister bring me home one, she's the best :)

Spaghetti squash. I love this one because it is much healthier than eating pasta, it's a vegetable! You just cut the squash in half, take out the seeds, bake for 45 min then use a fork to get everything out and it looks and tastes just like spaghetti.
(right: baking. left: everything scooped out)

Figs. We have an on going joke with Ryan's dad about this food and when we saw them at the produce market I knew we had to get them. Their good, it tastes just like a fig newton minus the outside "cookie" part.

Deja vu

These past 4 days all I have been feeling is deja vu. I feel like I do the same thing every day. Get up, eat breakfast while searching and applying for jobs, swim in the pool for an hour or so, search for more jobs then by that time dinner is ready. I know we've only been home for a little over a week but I'm ready to work again. We've been looking at houses online so that's been a big motivator to get a job and move out of my parents house. Our personal goal, have our own house by our first anniversary which is September 23.....oh wow that's only 4 months from today, I better get crackin.

My dad took us cast net fishing. He was the only one who caught 2 fish.

I love a good Florida sunset.

After unpacking I realized I gave away all of my winter clothes and most of my summer clothes because I never got to wear any of them because of work. Being back in Florida and realizing it's only getting hotter I knew I needed to go shopping. Yesterday I broke out of the routine I had gotten into and spent my entire last paycheck. It's nice being so close to an H&M and Forever 21, the closest ones were in NYC while we were in PA.

Three

To keep me on track with keeping up with this blog I've decided I'll post something about 3 things every Saturday wether it be what I've learned throughout the week, fun places I went or want to go, what I found interesting, my new favorite things at the moment or whatever else I can come up with. This week will be 3 things I've learned.

Never buy something unless it's on sale unless you really need it. I found a bikini bottom on sale at goodwill for $1.89! If it didn't have the original Target tag on it I wouldn't have bought just incase it had been used before. 

I really like Moscato wine. My sister introduced it to me but I never had it again until the cruise and when I came back I found a liter of it at Publix for $6.99! I reused one of my cruise cups and pretended like I never left the boat one afternoon. 

My dad, Ryan and I went to the Mummies exhibit at MOSI today and learned what mummies are, where they came from and what people used to do with them. It was cool to see things that are thousands of years old still look so good. 

Home sweet home

We made it to the west coast of Florida just fine, it was a long journey that I am proud to say I drove across the country by myself! We first stopped in Daytona to see Ryan's family and a friend who I worked with in Scranton. We had some bbq's, went to a Cub's game and hung out and I started getting tan again. lol.

Alicia and I, we worked together in Scranton

                                                   
After Daytona we drove 3 hours to my neck of the woods where we unpacked, organized and ran a million errands before we went on a cruise. Since we never took a honeymoon and haven't had a vacation in over a year a vacation was due. We went on a 4 day cruise to Cozumel and back. There was comedy, night clubs, 2 pools, shops, a casino, and of course food 24/7.

The ships main deck, complete with a water slide

Every night after dinner we came back to a towel that was shaped like an anaimal

Freddy the Carnival mascot

Formal night

We went on this same cruise last year, right about the same time and did an excursion for about $80 a person, that was a little out of the budget this year so we took a taxi to a private beach with a pool and restaurant and only spent $30 total. One downfall, it was not a good spot for snorkeling which was one of the main reasons we wanted to go on a cruise, oh well.

Our ship, Carnival Paradise 

Look a fish!

Beach love

The beach for the day, it wasn't crowded which was very nice

Since being back from our vacation all we have done is job hunting. It isn't fun but it has to be done. I am just glad to be back in an area where I know where everything is. Also, I never thought I'd miss the heat but I actually like sweating, who knew. We like to think of living in PA as a learning experience. I have learned a lot about what I want to do career wise and what type of city I want to live in and Ryan has learned that he wants to be closer to water. We spent a lot of time deciding where to move next and I think moving back to the Tampa Bay area has been one of our better decisions yet. 

A dock off the side of the road in Dunedin