Destin - Our Destiny

This past Monday Garin and I decided to take a little trip down the road to Destin, FL. Quite a few people have told me that we really needed to go check it out because the beaches were so beautiful (and they have outlet malls). I wondered how the beaches could be any more pretty than the ones we usually go to, being that Destin is only an hour away; however, I must admit, there was a difference! The water was much clearer and the sand was much softer (and maybe a tad bit whiter, but the sand here is pretty white).

Garin and I set off early Monday morning to drive down there and on the way we drove by an Air Force Aviation Museum (Destin is really close to Eglin Air Force Base). After seeing the planes sitting outside in front of the museum, we "had" to make a U-turn to go back and check them out. So the first hour or so of "daycation" was spent checking out some pretty cool planes (even I will admit they were pretty cool).

After seeing all the "awesome" aircrafts we headed to the "awesome" outlet malls :) The skies were kind of overcast so I felt that it was okay to spend quite a few hours checking out all the stores. Garin was such a trooper...I endured 1 hour of planes and he endured 3 hours of shopping...looks like I got the better end of that deal!!!

When the clouds parted and the sun poked out we headed to the beach to see if they were all they were talked up to be. Even though it was rather cool, Garin just had to take a dip. In the picture below you can see how clear the water is because you can see his whole body even though its underwater.
So yeah, as you can see it looks like we have the Caribbean not that far away from us!!

After our time at the beach we checked out some of the interesting signs we saw on the way in. The first is a picture of "The Donut Hole." Garin was so "surprised" because this was the name he had "come up with" for the donut shop he aspires to open when he finally retires. So of course we had to go try out the merchandise...very good! The next picture is a throwback to my old single days. I wish they had been open so I could meet some of my kin folk; it was cool to see my old name in print though :)

And finally some sunset pictures over the Destin bay:

So there you have it...our daycation to Destin. If you come visit us you might get to take a fun daycation to Destin as well! :)

Kirkpatricks Gone Cruisin '09

Finally, cruise pictures! Garin and I got to go on a cruise a few weeks ago. After we started thinking about Garin's busy training schedule for the next half a year or so, we figure this might be the only opportunity we got to take a vacation. So, after keeping an eye on the cruise prices we found a VERY good deal and jumped on it. So on Monday April 20th, we got up at 4AM hopped in the car and headed down to Tampa.

Garin was excited to find that the ship had a slide that met his high slide standards. He was like a kid all over again :) The kids all thought he was the coolest because he made a really big splash!

Our first day was spent at sea. I spent most of the day going to "talks" to get some freebies and laying out by the slide. Garin spend most of the day sliding, hanging out by the pool, and going to the gym. Then our second day we dropped anchor in the bay next to Grand Cayman island. We decided to not go with an excursion offered by the cruise but rather one I found online for a boat ride out to swim with the stingrays and snorkel a reef. So after an hour of going back and forth with the boat shop I found online we FINALLY got in a van and drove off to a marina to board a large boat to head out to the Stingray Bay. Those black blobs are the stingrays...we had a water camera where we got some closer pictures of us holding and touching the rays! Oh man, it was so cool. If you ever make it out to the Caymans, I totally recommend that you go on this trip. Garin and I had a blast. Our stay at Grand Cayman was pretty short so as soon as we got back from seeing the stingrays, we pretty much had to board the boat. So I'm not real sure what the rest of the island had to offer :(

After a night at sea the next morning we woke up ported at Cozumel, Mexico. Yes, we were in Mexico...and thankfully were not struck with the Swine Flu. We found out that the week after our cruise, the cruise didn't dock at Cozumel...I would have been sooo mad!!! But anyway, our plan for the day WAS for Garin to go scuba diving while I just chilled out, however, Garin realized that he left his dive cards at home :( So we had to go with plan B.


A guy on the street in front of a resort near the dock offered to give us a Jeep for our use all day if we went in and listened to their sales pitch. It was hot as all get out and we need some AC so we figured "what the heck?". Garin artfully dodged the pressure sales tactics and by lunch time we had our Jeep and were on our way. Since the Mexican food here in Milton, FL is crap, we decided to try to find some GOOD authentic Mexican food. We stopped at a little restaurant outside of the city that looked "okay." Boy were we right, it sure was good...and cheap!! And thankfully we didn't get sick from it either...what a bonus!!! Gotta love the places that don't even have English on the menu!
We really enjoyed Cozumel. We went Cancun before on our honeymoon and I thought it would be much the same since they were so close together. However, they really were nothing alike...especially when you get out of the tourist area and see the open land. The beaches are BEAUTIFUL. Garin and I brought our own snorkel gear so we drove to a spot where a local told us there was good snorkeling...it really wasn't that great, but it was fun nonetheless. The island isn't that big so we were able to drive around most of it and we have already found the hotel we want to stay in on our next visit ;)

The Jeep

The "beach" on the backside of the island...there were some really cool rock formations along with some beautiful sandy areas as well.

The beach where we stopped to snorkel.

After our fun on Cozumel we headed back to the boat for some good food and then enjoyed our next day at sea as we made our way back to Tampa. Below are some more fun pictures :)

Preparing for evacuation.

Formal night. And this is actually on the back of the ship with the sun setting...not one of those cheesy backdrops they have all over the boat.

Towel art.

Heading out to see the stingrays.

What a fun trip!!

Mason Alexander' Debute

Well I'm finally back in FL where I have access to my camera cord and highspeed Internet, so that means that I can finally update the blog with pictures of my adorable nephew!!! I also have pictures from our cruise but I will post those later because they pale in comparison to my Mason ;)

Mason and I having a moment at the hospital when I first met him (it was love at first sight for both of us I'm sure ;)

Coming home from the hospital

Sweet boy chillin' for his Cameo shots. He let us change him into about four different outfits for pictures...he didn't cry at all and he had his eyes open the whole time. He is such a good boy!!

Sleeping in his digital camo outfit that Uncle Garin got for him. Garin said it would disguise the spit up ;)

Getting acquainted with the farm animals.

I love this picture. Baby boy was OUT! And so was his daddy :)

And finally one of my favorites of me with my nephew. Aww isn't he adorable?! I'm not a proud aunt or anything ;) It was great to get to spend the week up in North Carolina helping my sister and her husband. Of course it wasn't a bother for me at all...as long as a I sweet moments like this with my baby (and thankfully I got many of those moments)! I love you Mason!

Well Garin didn't get to stay in NC with me for the whole week because he had obligations back here in FL. He must have had a lonely week without me because he seemed to be pretty excited to have me back home. On Monday I caught a ride with his dad down to Atlanta and then Garin picked me up from there to bring me back to FL (ATL is about halfway from here to CLT). When I got home he surprised me with a homemade Italian dinner!!! He made bruchetta, chicken marsala with noodles and even made homemade sorbet!!! I was quite impressed :) And all this was served by candlelight with fresh flowers on the finished "cafe" table that he had been working on for our living room (which is also quite impressive).

After this special surprise I'm starting to think I should go away more often ;) hehe. I love my husband, he is the bestest!!!

Dinner is served!

A full view of the table. Garin built this from scratch and did it without using ANY nails. I think he has perfected the art of dowel rodding! It truly is quite impressive. He is quite gifted in the woodworking department!

I'm an AUNT!!!!

This past Friday my sister brought Mason Alexander into the world. Weighing in at 8lbs. 6 oz. and 23 inches long, he is a biggin'...and he was 2.5 weeks early. Garin and I were not able to be here for the birth...actually we didn't even find out about it until Saturday morning because we were somewhere out in the Gulf of Mexico when he arrived. I was SOOOO bummed. Once we got on dry land we made a bee line up to NC to see our new nephew (we didn't even go by home)! So I am up here now for as long as they need me. I don't have the connector to upload pictures from my camera, so pictures will come in the weeks to come! But let me just tell you...he is a beauty!!

On another note, our cruise was great...we had a blast! I just wish we hadn't missed all the excitement!!

Visitors!!

Well this past weekend we had the joy of hosting Meghan (Garin's sister) and her boyfriend, Eli! I had warned them that it was boring down here because there really isn't much to do except go to the beach...but they were troopers and came anyway. They got here at about noon on Friday and we headed out to the Blackwater River to do some canoeing/kayaking. Garin opted for the canoe and Meg/Eli opted for the kayak. I must admit that after I'd paddled in the canoe for an hour or so and then tried out the kayak, I think I'm a bigger fan of kayaking (even though you did get a bit more wet). Next time we head out there Garin can have his canoe, I'm going for the kayak!

On Saturday we took them to the only redeeming thing this place has to offer...the beach. I checked the weather forecast on Thursday and it said that it was supposed to be warm and sunny on Saturday...apparently some things changed in two days. It was mostly overcast and the wind made it a little chilly. The waves were pretty choppy so we couldn't get in (not that I wanted to because it was pretty cold....of course Garin got in anyway!) and the sand was all churned up so you couldn't really see how clear and emeraldy the water is...bummer. Nonetheless we stayed out there a while and a few of us got a little sunburned (this does not include Meg and me...apparently we were the only ones that knew you could get sunburned when it is overcast).

All in all, I hope they had a good time with us old farts! We are so glad they took the time to come down and see us!! We can't wait for the rest of you to come!!! We are currently taking reservations for the guest room!!

Meg and Eli and then a picture of them at the beach

P.S. Garin and I booked a last minute cruise, so this week we will be heading out to the Caribbean for some sun, sand, and lots of good food!!! I'll post our adventures when we return!

What Easter Means to Me

To me, Easter is not about the Easter bunny (although, one did visit our front door on Easter morning bearing candy...seriously, not kidding...that was pretty cool!), its not about the candy (although, I do think its the holiday with the BEST candy...those Robin's Eggs, Peeps, and black jelly beans will get me every time!), its not about buying a new spring outfit to wear to church (I didn't even get one this year), and its not about being able to FINALLY wear white shoes (Florida gets warm and my white sandals have been itching to make their appearance, but I couldn't do it because my mom's voice would come to my head telling me that I can't wear white before Easter!), to me, Easter is about emptiness.

Yes, emptiness. Its because of the emptiness of Jesus' grave that the emptiness of my heart can be made full. If it weren't for the fact that Jesus died that dreaded Friday for all of my sins and then three days later got up and walked out of His earthly tomb, leaving it empty, I can't imagine where I would be today. That moment in history made a historical moment in my life many years ago when the emptiness of my life was filled with an eternal purpose. He LIVES, the tomb is EMPTY!

Since this was the first year Garin and I would be away from our families for this joyful day, we decided to invite our extended family, our friends down here, to come over to celebrate with us. So I prepared my first Easter meal...for 15 of our friends (make that my first holiday meal ever...we usually go over to my sister's or Garin's parents for holidays and they do most of the cooking). I was a little nervous because my cooking skills definitely aren't seasoned, but I think in the end it turned out okay. There was food left over so hopefully everyone had enough to stuff themselves (or maybe it was just too bad to go back and get seconds?? I hope it was the former!!). Below are some pictures of the festivities:

Home Sweet Home

This past week Garin and I got the opportunity to return back to our good ol' home town of Indian Trail, NC. Last weekend my sister had two baby showers and Garin got to go to the wedding of one of his OCS buddies (he said it was quite the event!). On Monday we spent some time with G's parents and the evening with our good friends Kristin and Aaron Byrum (our hang out time most definitely included some La Unica...which we miss tremendously). Tuesday brought us to my dad's place and I spent much of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday cleaning up the upstairs of his house (Goodwill is getting a trailer load!). On Wednesday Garin headed out with Aaron to backpack at Mount Rogers State Park...after a rainy day hiking they came back on Thursday night. On Thursday I went and visited my good friends at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities and then got to spend the evening with our former Sunday School teachers and friends, the Richards family. Friday was spent tying up some loose ends and getting ready for our 9 hour drive back on Saturday. It actually took us over 10 hours because we got stuck in some nasty Atlanta traffic. Traffic on Saturday...gotta love Atlanta!

Overall we had a fantastic trip back home. Thanks to everyone for their hospitality! We miss you guys! I should be returning in another month when I will become a new AUNT!!!

Since my camera died, I didn't get to take any pictures...but I did steal one of my pregnant sister. She would kill me if she knew I was posting this, but fortunately she never checks my blog so she won't know...or maybe someone will tell her and she will be forced to check it! But anyway, she thinks she looks huge, I think she looks great! She is such a cute pregnant girl! I hope I'm as fortunate as her and only gain weight where I'm supposed to!! Oh yeah, and I'm sporting my new short hair do...I'll get better pictures of it when we finally get a camera that works!