traci in the swamp

Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, Pippi Longstocking and a new job

* Well, quick report - I got a new job so with out of town training and just generally keeping busier than normal, I've neglected my poor blog.  But I'm here still and have actually taken some time to write a post.

In between leaving my old job and starting my new job, I took two weeks off.  This was great since I was able to get some things down.  Some being the operative word there.  I was able to read, crochet, work a little on school stuff, but mainly I just relaxed.  If you ever get the opportunity to do this, I highly suggest it.  Before when we moved from Tampa to Gainesville many moons back, I started a job on a Monday after moving on a Saturday (try to avoid that if you can).  I'm just full of advice tonight, huh!

During one of those ten days off, Matt and I visited Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island.  This was a wonderful quick trip.  We intended to find a place to jet ski, but unfortunately, horrible insurance ruined that (no where would rent jet skis cause of the liabilities).  We did end up finding a great place where we spent the afternoon talking with the locals.

We also managed to visit Fort Clinch State Park and the Pippi Longstocking House (picture to the right) and walked, for a few minutes (it was a million degrees - even when you are Floridian, you can barely stand the heat) on the beach.  The Atlantic Ocean is different than the Gulf, I have to say, I've always thought that and was reminded again. If you've never been, the Atlantic is much colder!  

We wound up staying at the Addison, an absolutely beautiful B&B downtown Amelia Island.  We also managed to meet Gator fans way up there.  We stopped in the old time Post Office (picture above to the left) to ask for directions, and managed to meet a fellow fan, who hugged us on the spot when he spotted Matt's UF hat.  Gotta love that! 

And we caught the sunset, not an easy trick when you are on the East coast of Florida, but we succeeded.  Like always, Matt and I can't be away from water long, so this helped us get our fix.

Sorry to be away so long, another post coming about our trip to Charleston for the Fourth of July (I know, not a Florida place, but we gotta get out of the state once in a while!!).

Stubbornness

I'm stubborn, it's a Hanlon trait.  It's just something that I was born with, that my father was born with, that his mother also possesses (you get the picture, right).  So calling me stubborn, would be like calling me short, (I'm 5'0-only with shoes) or a female, or a brown haired, short female.  It's just a fact.

Anyways, back to the quote.  Matt had the best one a few days ago: 

"If wealth was measured in stubbornness, the Hanlon's would have been the Hanlonfellers." 

But is being stubborn necessarily a bad thing?  I did a quick search for other quotes, and found this one:

"Time has a way of demonstrating that the most stubborn are the most intelligent."
Yevgeny Yevtushenko

I like that one better, although if wealth was measured by ones level of being stubborn, I'd never have to play the lottery!

What's wrong with this picture?

Matt and I took the Florida Turnpike down to Melbourne a few weeks ago.  Matt and I are used to traveling roads in Florida after commuting between St. Petersburg and Altamonte Springs when we were dating years ago. 

Now most people (not from Florida) probably haven't ridden on the Turnpike.  It's an interesting toll road, with service stations 45 miles apart.  So you do have to stop at these plazas for gas, breaks, food, etc at some point.  Matt and I stopped at Okahumpka on our way back from Melbourne and saw this at the Dunkin' Donuts booth.  I thought it was hilarious and thought about the Jay Leno headlines and couldn't help taking a picture.

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone starts their new year with happiness and health.

We'll be enjoying Dick Clark and watching Robbie Maddison jump over a couple of football fields on ESPN! 

Here's hoping for next year...

Matt and I drove down to Melbourne (Florida, not Australia) to visit with his friend, Jace and Jace's wife Araceli this weekend.  Jace, Matt and I are all UCF grads and wanted to enjoy the game together.   Well, I can't say we totally enjoyed the game, since UCF lost, but we did enjoy our time together.  You can tell in the picture our happiness level, early in the game UCF was winning - then at the end of the game, well....Matt and I have finally recovered.   On an interesting note, the Gainesville Sun today discussed the lack of UCF excitement for their second bowl game, I wish the reporter had been at the Hooters watching us watch the entire game!

Here's hoping for USF today in the Sun Bowl and UF tomorrow in the Capital One Bowl.

A New Orleans Christmas

Like most Christmases, Matt and I went to New Orleans (his home town) this year.  New Orleans is a neat place, one of those supremely unique places that can't be duplicated any where else.  Amazing food, interesting accents, beautiful architecture and of course, family are all important draws to the city. 

I can remember my first trip, visiting Commanders' Palace and eating quail for the first time.  Now, quail is a big deal for a girl who grew up on truly Irish foods (a.k.a. potato/carbohydrates). I can remember Christmas 2005 - a white Christmas actually.  And then the following year, Katrina bore down on New Orleans and we shared Christmas in Tampa with everyone.  I've become accustomed to eating Buche de Noel (Yule Log) Christmas eve.  As well as watching everyone eat pounds and pounds of crawfish and stuffed artichoke (which I love).  I've also learned about the Cajun Night Before Christmas (and got my own copy last year) as well as the story of Mr. Bingle (I got my own this year), Who Dat? and fleur-de-lis.  So needless to say, New Orleans has become my kind of holiday adopted home! 

Although it's late, it's better than never - I hope everyone had a blessed and Merry Christmas!

This is my favorite Christmas movie - EVER

"Remember no man is a failure, who has friends." - Clarence Odbody.

I hope I never hear anyone telling me they've never seen It's a Wonderful Life.  This movie is a Christmas classic and an old Classic.  It's the story of the affect we all have on each other's lives and is important since every decision we all make somehow affects others and the direction our lives take in turn. 

Take for instance, George Bailey.  George saves his younger brother Harry from drowning, and loses hearing in his left ear because of this.  Harry goes on to fight in World War II and saves hundreds of people.  If George hadn't been there to save Harry, Harry wouldn't have saved all those people.  That is the gist of It's a Wonderful Life.   We've all had moments like that in our own lives, that something we did - positively influenced another's life and made an important difference.  What an exciting and inspirational thought.

Every time I see the ending of this movie, it makes me cry.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy one year anniversary to us! 

Does that mean we aren't newlyweds anymore?

This isn't about football! Well, not at the beginning at least.

Matt heard about an interesting website on one of his podcasts.  Matt often hears about interesting websites and tells me about them.  That's how I learned about Slide, Flickr, and LinkedIn.  Aleit, I haven't updated my Slide or Flickr account since I started my blog, but I am good intentioned and do have the accounts set up, right?

Anyways, the site that Matt told me about is pretty neat and I think I'll be using it a little more than the other sites I just mentioned.  Geni.com is a website that helps you build your family tree.  Geni.com was created by the same guy that was the COO of PayPal before PayPal was bought for a gazillion dollars by ebay. The cool thing about the site is that it is very intuitive, links you to others through email and lets you message other people that you might think are related.  It's really neat and I've just spent about 2 hours playing on it adding my family (the little that I actually know) and then watching Matt as he added his. 

Nothing like new hobbies, right? 

P.S.  The Bulls won against FAU, but barely.  (I keep hoping USF's luck isn't just a fluke and that they continue to do well the rest of the season) They're now in the top five!  I wish I could say that same about UCF and UF.

Even across the miles...

I don't know how people become best friends.  It's one of those strange things that I think are hard to explain or totally understand.  Is it because you have a lot in common with the person, come from similar backgrounds, find the same things humorous or boring?  Or do you just find a connection with someone and don't really know a time when you weren't best friends. 

Tonight I spent almost four hours, talking to my old best friend, Letha.  Even though we live a thousand miles away, haven't seen each other for many years and went many years not talking after a bad argument, she'll always be the closet and most favorite girl-friend I've ever had.  I don't even know exactly how we met, although I know it was during our high school lunch hour - more than 13 years ago. 

Conversations with Letha always remind me that I have selective amnesia - I have an uncanny ability to suppress old memories and they are only refreshed when we talk and review them.  This often results in hilarity since only a few words and even just a name will make me remember everything.

Tonight, Letha and I reviewed how we used to stop at Wal-Mart to buy towels, before we drove out to Pass-A-Grille Beach for a midnight swim, how we got in trouble with the police after we were passengers in a car traveling over 100 mph (yes, very stupid I know, but we were teenagers), first kisses, old relationships, what we learned from each other, and what we'd do differently if we had the chance.  The conversations were great, refreshing and important, since we both played such a big role in each other's lives and it  was a blast reliving the past with someone that was such a huge part of it.

Thanks, Leaf-a, for being there all those years!