Finding Refuge

Lucky circumstances brought my aunt and uncle to Florida last week from Niagara Falls, Canada. They had long ago planned a winter getaway to a resort near Fort Lauderdale, so once Kevin and I moved down here we figured out that it would only be an hour drive for us to see each other. Aunt Sandy was my mom's sister and she has been married to Uncle Dave for over 40 years, so they both were very close to her and had lots of stories about the three of them. They ordered in pizza at the resort and we sat around, along with their travel buddies Barb and Dave, and caught up on all the family. My cousin Johnny finished med school and is now a practicing chiropractor. He's been married three years and just bought a house. My cousin Nikki is due with her first baby—a boy!—next month. I grew up not only the youngest in my family, but the youngest of the cousins, and Nikki and Johnny introduced me to the Counting Crows, my first cheese fries, and summer days at the lake. Sometimes I really wish my family all lived close together, it's hard to stay in touch and support people from such long distances. Unfortunately, we had so much to talk about we forgot to take a picture! I'm so bummed. I found an old one of her the last time she visited my mom.

My mom with her sister Sandy

Friday night filled me with a sense of nostalgia for family memories, which was still fresh in my mind as we continued our weekend wedding planning adventures. We found a venue called the House of Refuge Museum on Hutchinson Island that has a stunning 360-degree view of the water. The best part is that it has a lot more character and history than a modern resort or hotel. Built in 1876, the House of Refuge was built by the U.S. government to aide shipwrecked sailors. There were about ten built on the east coast of Florida and there were signs posted on the beaches for how far an ocean-torn victim had to walk to find respite. Each house also had a keeper who would patrol the beaches daily to search for such unfortunate souls. The keeper and his family would nurse the sailors back to health and saved many lives. I love that the house has a storied history filled with the adventures of sailors, pirates, and soldiers of years past. The warmth, love, and kindness from a family of modest means toward strangers expresses our family values. And I enjoy the symbolism of how our relationship is a refuge from the storm of life. Kevin and I both felt like this place was really something special and unique.

Painting of the House of Refuge on Hutchinson Island

After the House of Refuge we ate lunch on the water en plein air at a restaurant called The Sailor's Return. It also had a stellar view and a relaxed atmosphere, not to mention excellent beer-battered fish and chips. We came home and took it easy that night by watching college basketball rivalry week. 

Sunday we went to brunch with three other couples at a Worth Avenue/Palm Beach institution called Taboo. It was nice to branch out and meet some other couples, but comfortable friendships take time and it's tough to not have that right away. Other than Lois and Steve, there aren't many people here with whom we can just hang out. 

How could you hate this wittle face?

 On Wednesday, I bid Varsha a safe journey as she set off on her African Adventure in Namibia on Friday. Her first flight was Friday to NYC and then she boarded her transatlantic flight on Saturday. She was very excited but also a little nervous because, apparently, there are a lot of stray cats in Namibia, and Varsha hates cats. The funny thing is when I asked her about bugs, she was utterly fearless. She's a funny one that little V. :o)

Go Phil! (with his wife Amy)

Shout out to my favorite golfer Phil Mickelson for winning Pebble Beach and mercilessly annihilating Tiger Woods. For those of you that don't know, I can't stand Tiger Woods and think he's a self-absorbed, whiny, entitled egomaniac. Whereas, Phil Mickelson is a gentleman golfer who is ultra-talented, humble, and plays with class. Not to mention all of Tiger's character issues off the green... and Phil who took time away from golf to care for his wife when she battled cancer. I prefer being a fan of someone who I actually like as a person and as an athlete, that is what a "role model" is after all.

CBD

Busy Bee Weekend

Dum, dum, dah, dum . . .

This weekend, we found a beautiful wedding venue on Singer Island. We're still looking at other venue possibilities, including a resort several miles north in Vero Beach, but I'm starting to see that do-it-yourself isn't necessarily better value than a hotel package. Kevin and I had lunch with his co-worker Jonathan who has worked in catering sales and event planning (specifically ten years at a resort in Palm Beach) and he walked us through how quickly vendors add up when you think you can just throw up a tent on the beach and hire a caterer. For example, normal, logistical things like transportation and bathrooms become an issue. Not to mention the fact that someone has to be in charge of coordinating all the vendors and set-up. Plus we think since pretty much everyone would be staying in a hotel, it would be fun to spend the weekend all together. I'm hoping we can pull off a beautiful event and stay within our hardworking 20-somethings budget.

Go lil turtle, go!

After looking at Singer Island, we went to a natural state park near the ocean and went for a walk around the grounds. I saw my first real Loggerhead turtle since I've been here. It was in a tank, but it was the real deal nonetheless. Turtles are a big thing around these parts since they lay their eggs on the beaches and the season for nesting/hatching lasts from May to August. I'm looking forward to my first "turtle walk" where you watch the baby turtles scurry from the dunes to the water in the moonlight.

I think we wore Leo out.

On Friday night, Lois and Steve took us out to dinner as an advanced thank you for watching Leo for the weekend. We went to a hibachi place in Abacoa and then crashed the college dive bar next door. Good times. It was a very gracious gesture, as I was psyched to have Leo for the weekend and he was truly no trouble whatsoever. Kevin was less psyched but I think he likes Leo more than he likes most cats, and although he won't admit it, he had some fun playing with him too. Leo is an active, playful cat. He loves to chase toys, hunt little frogs near the pool, and he especially cracks me up when he fights with his own tail. He is well-tempered little guy who didn't even get too upset when Kevin squirted him with water (he simply hid behind a plant). As evidenced by his water-squirting tactics, Kevin's idea of playing with a pet is playing with a dog. I like dogs just as much as cats, so if we get a pet, we'll probably get a dog. We're just enjoying our DINK status of no responsibilities for the time being, and we're not quite ready for the responsibility of another living creature for longer than a weekend. Maybe a fish. Or a turtle!

Giants win 21 to 17.

We watched the Carolina game on Saturday and I was extremely happy to see some fire and tenacity on the road. It wasn't a stellar offensive game, but we played smart, scrappy basketball and Maryland put up quite a fight. It's definitely great momentum going into this week's game against the Dookies! HUGE game. Can't wait. Speaking of big games, a little thing called the Super Bowl was on yesterday, hence my lack of a blog post. I guess if the 49ers couldn't win it all, they may as well lose to the team that did. Plus Patriots fans are more annoying and entitled than Giants fans, and I like Eli Manning better than Tom Brady. If you're a fan of Super Bowl commercials, Kevin's brother Michael is a film editor in L.A. and edited the "Hulu" commericial. The Matthew Broderick commercial was clever, but just made me want to watch Ferris Bueller. I also thought the Volkswagen commercial and the Sketchers commercial were funny and cute.

Varsha leaves for Africa this weekend and we have been playing a bit of phone tag. Hopefully I get to talk to her before she leaves for the semester! 

CBD

We interrupt your normal scheduled programming...

To announce that I have the bestest friends in the world.

Thank you to Becky for giving me further inspiration and motivation to work on my blog. I hope you have a new adventure to write about very soon... ;)

And Haley (and maid of honor come November) for sending me a sticky-noted wedding magazine so "it's like reading it together."

I feel incredibly blessed to have such caring and thoughtful friends.

Love you guys.

A Campbell Christmas

The last of the Campbell clan hit the road on Friday morning and Kevin and I enjoyed putting our feet up and relaxing a bit this weekend. Our first couple months in Florida flew by as we scrambled to unpack and finish home projects before the crew came for the holidays. Hosting the holidays for the first time was a milestone for Kevin and I, and in our true style we jumped into the task head first by hosting eight guests, getting a 9'4" tree that had just enough room for our angel, and decorating the house with all the trimmings. It appears we've become real adults, even if we still feel like kids at heart.

The full house added to the holiday feel of family, cheer, and warmth. We also found out how challenging it can be to wrangle a crew of ten with a 70-year age span to do the many activities we had planned: beach, deep-sea fishing, turtle museum, Christmas dinner, New Year's Eve party, Universal Studios, Hard Rock Casino, the Breakers... needless to say, punctuality was next to impossible. Kidding aside, the packed schedule really got us all together exploring our new state. It was a lot of fun showing them around but so was the down time: hanging around playing games, cooking, and watching movies. It was a special and memorable holiday in our new tropical home (the closest we got to snow were my glass snowmen on the dining room table).

Happy Birthday Mama :)

I really enjoyed establishing new holiday traditions, but I do still get sad about what it would be like if my mom was still here. We used to always bake pies and cookies, shop for gifts, go to church and open one present on Christmas Eve... Yesterday would have been my mom's 64th birthday, so I bought some bright yellow flowers to plant in her honor since she loved to garden. I'm also starting to plan the wedding and I think about how nice it would be to talk to her about everything (even though we'd inevitably fight about a few things, ha). It's all very sad and hard to comprehend that she's gone.

All for now.

CBD