Last Hoo-rah...

This past weekend, my brother and I went down to St. Simons to meet my dad for our last beach trip of the summer.  Daddy has rented a house for 10 days and is enjoying some much needed alone time.  I'm super jealous! 
On Saturday, Cody and I scooted down the Golden Isle Parkway to spend the day on the beach.  I found my first sand dollars ever that day!  I was so proud!  My paternal grandfather, Jack, was notorious for finding tons of sand dollars every summer in SSI.  Daddy dubbed me "Little Jack" by the end of the day. I had lots of fun. If you have ever wondered how to find them, simply drag your feet along the bottom of the ocean and you will feel them (they are rough).  I threw all of mine back.  I just couldn't kill them.  Lol.

Around 6:00 we decided to go in and get ready for dinner.  We ended up ordering our dinner to-go from our favorite resturant, The Crap Trap.  It was delish as always!  After dinner, Cody and I went for ice cream at The Moo Cow and then went back to the house for bed.  We were tired from the drive and the sun.

The next morning we slept late and then went to the village for lunch.  We ate at another favorite, The Sandcastle.  I had the crab cake sandwich with clam chowder.  Amazing.

 After lunch, we strolled down to the pier to see what the fishermen were catching.  The city has recently re-done their pier area and it's beautiful!  Once at the end of the pier we spotted people taking pictures near a pelican.  The bird was huge and was being so sweet to let people snap photos.  I was a little aprehesive.  I didn't want to get too close incase it changed it's mind!  I have never seen a pelican that close before though. I think it must visit often.

Later that afternoon we went back down to the beach.  We went out to a sandbar and just sat around and talked.  It was so nice. 

Our trip was quick, but nice and relaxing.  I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did!  

 

Shopping in St. Joe Beach

Last week, while in Mexico Beach for family vacation, the 4 of us (Cody, Taylor, mama, and me) went over to St. Joe Beach to have birthday lunch for Taylor and do some shopping.  We went to Pepper's Mexican Restaurant and it was simply amazing.  I had a steak taco salad and it was perfect.  Taylor had the traditional pie-in-the-face after being sung the birthday song in Spanish while wearing the corny sombrero.

I gave Taylor Victoria's Secret perfume and mom gave her a purse.

Cody being sweet...getting pie off of Taylor's face. Lol.

After lunch, we went to a few cute stores downtown.  I wanted to share with you a few things I fell in love with. 

Here is Cody being silly on a old phone in a consignment shop.

Love this beautiful white lacquer peacock vase.

Love this idea for kitchen decor.

Beautiful sunburst mirror that would be perfect for a beach house.

Check out this baby....a chandelier coated in oyster shells.  Talk about a "heavy" statement piece.

Loved these! Pieces of reclaimed wood with wood sharks and fish.

I liked the way these beautiful sand dollars looked in this blue pail.

I don't think I will ever get tired of birds.

This was a cute locally owned pet store.  Mama and I bought Molly a few goodies here.  The owner's dog was ringing her up! :)

I'm obsessed with blue and burlap right now so this pillow is right up my alley. 

Molly loved her treat....

....but loved her new squeaky dragon even more!

Becca B Get's Hitched!

My friend Becca "B." Boy's (as I have called her since I was little) got married a couple of weeks ago on June 2nd.  Her day was so perfect and fun!  As cliche as it sounds, you could just see the love radiating between her and her fiance.  They were so precious.  I hope to find someone that makes me as happy as Rick makes Becca someday. 
Becca's colors were orange and pink and I am a sucker for orange and pink.  The decor was so lovely and fun!  Her reception was held at an old historic home now turned events place called "The Columns of Georgia".  It is a beautiful house and a great place for Hawkinsville to have for events.
Becca means a lot to me and I value our friendship so much.  I was so happy to be there on her big day.  We have been friends since we were probably 4.  Always spending time at each other's houses and playing dress-up and having tea parties.  She has grown up to be an awesome, caring person and I'm so blessed to call her friend.  Congrats Becca B!

*Decorating by Maggie Griffin

The beautiful reception site.

Entrance into the courtyard/reception area.

A sweet photo of Becca and her daddy.

Friends forever! Me, Becca, and Sarah.

Our good friend, Becca, caught the bouquet!

Mr. and Mrs. Rick Devens with Becca's parents.

Costa Rica Mission Trip Part 2

The last 2 days we were in Costa Rica were our "play" days.  On Saturday, we went to Manuel Antonio National Park, which was the film location for the Blue Lagoon (one of Brooke Shield's first movies).  It was beautiful!!! I have always wanted to visit a beautiful blue ocean (other than the Gulf) and my dream came true this day.  The park also had trails that we hiked.  We saw monkeys, rainforest crabs, sloths, iguanas, and other neat creatures.  One trail we hiked was all uphill and super long....I almost died.  Not even kidding.  Once we got to the top, we had a beautiful view of the ocean.  It was worth it I suppose.  :)  The other trail we walked took us to a spot on the beach that was pretty private since you could only get to it by trail.  I can't even describe the feeling I had when I first put my feet in that beautiful Pacific Ocean.  Once we were done with the trails and had spent time on the beach, several of us went out on a banana boat.  IT WAS AWESOME!!  I laughed the whole time, lol.   I took mental pictures the whole ride because I never want to forget what I saw.  The driver of the boat took us way out to a cliff that was in the middle of the ocean.  We circled around it and while we were out there, it started flooding!  It rained so hard we couldn't even open our eyes.  It still so much fun though!!  The water was so warm and the waves were huge!
Here are my pictures of Manuel Antonio National Park.

Does this not look like a baby alligator?!

First sighting of the ocean after our trail hike.

View from the top of the longest and hardest trail in the park.  So pretty!

Me and Mama!

On Sunday we attended the church service at the church we were working with.  It was amazing and uplifting even though we couldn't understand a word of it. Lol.  The people there are so kind and are on fire for the Lord.  Since it was Father's Day, they did a special prayer at the end of the sermon for all of the father's in the congregation. 

After church, the pastor took us to a resturant in town that specialized in roasted chicken.  It was amazing and the fellowship was even better!

One day during the middle of the week, we went trout fishing at a trout farm.  We did this last year so I knew what to expect.  I caught only one fish.  After you catch them, the guys that work there fry them and you eat them for lunch.  I brought a PB&J. :)

Dennis, took the title of eating the most trout!

Thanks for reading about my trip! It was truly a blessing to be able to go and to interact with the people of Costa Rica.