The Big Three Oh

I promised I would tell you about my birthday. As you can see, it was a significant one! I had mixed feelings about it, but now that it's over, I see it doesn't make a difference and that age is just a number...that tells you where you stand in your life span. Ha! Really...

I don't have photos from the Guilford's, but the weekend started off on Friday night when I celebrated my birthday with Matt's family - Brad, Joy, Mimi, G-ma, G-pa and the little ones. We had lasagna, strawberry cake (2 pieces for me) and birthday presents. It was sooo good! I even got some cool sewing tools and that was really fun for me (of course!).

Saturday night it was a party at Paige's with girlfriends. It has been so wonderful to make friends with other women and moms. It's really an important piece of life - I strongly believe that now that I have reached this ripe age. :) Girlfriends do understand you in a unique way and their love and support is priceless.

Sunday afternoon we had a 70* day here in Knoxville - perfect for a barbecue! Birthday celebrations continued into Sunday's dinner where we had macaroni and cheese, chips, potato salad, hot dogs, hamburgers and birthday cake. Mmmm! Matt invited several friends and families from church to enjoy the afternoon.

And, yes. The party included t-shirts with "Ariana Math" printed out. The lovely t-shirt is modeled there for you by little Oscar. :)

So now what? I feel great! I feel healthy and have enjoyed so many wonderful life experiences - including becoming a mom. It's pretty awesome, I must say. I am ready to rock on and savor the years to come. Each day is a gift from God and we are not promised the next. I'll keep that in my back pocket and try to find something to enjoy in each one.

hugs,
ariana

My Little Love

Hi All,
I wanted to share Samuel's 1 year slide show.

Christy is so awesome. It's so amazing that she can take photos that make a mom's heart swell with love for their babies. It's like you love them like this all the time, but capturing those faces and moments in this way is priceless!

Enjoy.

We are all winners, BUT...

My random number produced the number 4!

Yesenia, it looks like you are the one. Pretty cool, because I know you are a faithful reader and commenter. :)

Thank you all for your comments and letting me know you are there. It's pretty neat to have family and friends to join in the journey.

Love,
ariana

Do I talk that much?

Woah! This is my 100th post - and less than a year from starting this blog!

This has been a fun thing to jump into and I really enjoy putting together updates of Sam and our life here.

The thing that I wonder about now is who reads this?

In the spirit of blogdom, I will give you incentive. Post a comment and just say hi so I know who's out there!

What do you get out of this? I will draw a random number and send you a special something created with YOU in mind.

I will draw Tuesday morning sometime.

Oh. And then maybe I will tell you a bit more about celebrating my big birthday. :)

P.S. This is the best I have captured of Samuel these days. Look! He has teeth.

Did I mention the Manatees?

OK, there is more to catch up on, but I wanted to share the last tidbit of my trip to Islamorada. We stayed at a motel/marina and apparently manatees visit for some fresh water quite often!

While I was out one afternoon we had a visit and I was able to provide some refreshment through a water hose. It was sooo cool!!!

So here are the pictures - I also included an underwater picture of manatees that I found on the web.

Happy Day!

Ahh. Good to be Home

I have been away in the Florida Keys the last few days...specifically in Islamorada. Matt had to be there for a photo shoot and so I joined him from Thursday evening to Tuesday. Scratch that. Friday morning to Tuesday.

You see, the trip started off pretty rough! I flew Allegiance Air, Knoxville's discount airline company. When I arrived for my 7:55 pm flight Thursday night the ticket counter reported a 4.5 hour delay. Yes, four and a half hours! Not to worry, though. They gave us $8 vouchers to eat at Ruby Tuesdays until it closed at 10 pm. Oh, but wait. The flight did not leave until 2:30 am. Arriving to Fort Lauderdale at 4:30 am. On Friday.

Matt was a trooper and picked me up and drove me approximately 2 hours back to The Keys. :)

When we arrived I was able to jump right in and assist with the photo shoot. I may have some pictures to share later! I appeared with my own husband and everything (not Matt, a Hispanic husband). All after being up all night.

So I just hung around while the rest of the photo shoot took place. Not as glamorous as it sounds, I promise! That crew was sweating all day long. It is so much work!

We did enjoy a day off and it was so awesome! Matt and I took one of the cruisers out to the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park - America's first underwater park. I had never snorkeled before and we anchored and snorkeled the Coral Reef and were even able to find the Christ of the Deep statue! We took turns diving down to touch the statue. Did I say it was awesome? Yes, it was.

After swimming for a bit, we stopped and had lunch before heading back to the marina and back to work for Matt. :) It was a great day! Check out this link for a picture review of the day and a peek at the starfish we found when we anchored to take pictures with the boat.

We are back in Knoxville and so glad to be home. There is no place like it. Plus, there's a little guy here that we are quite fond of...

Happy Day to you! XOXO,
ariana

Staying connected

So I am getting ready to be away from home for a bit. As I finish packing, I realize something. I am quite the connected girl!

I think I will continue the My Favorite Things whenever the mood strikes...and here is the Travel Installment!

My Favorite Things - Travel Style, OR What Ariana owns that has to be plugged in (or recharged)!

1. Hair Dryer
2. Straightening Iron
3. Laptop
4. Flip Camera
5. Canon Camera
   
6. iPod Shuffle for running
7. Navman GPS for running
8. Cell Phone
9. Blue Tooth Headset
10. Medela Pump in Style

Well, I guess I never claimed to be a simple girl, right? I definitely enjoy modern amenities!