Thanksgivings (Yes Plural)

This year Derek and I had the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving several times… and you don't see me arguing!

First I had a Thanksgiving potluck at work that was interesting. A lot of the people I work with are Latino so it was a fusion Thanksgiving with a lot of Latin food and some American food. Turns out it was really good!

Our Thanksgiving assortment

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip I made… AMAZING!

My homemade stuffing

We also did a Friendsgiving with our medical school friends. It was such a fun night full of food and laughs. I am so glad we have these great friends.. they are definitely on my list of things I am grateful for this year! Thanks to Matt for having a great camera and taking lots of fun pics. And thanks to everyone for cooking up some amazing food for us to enjoy!

So. Much. Food.

The crew

Love these ladies

Our last Thanksgiving was with my family in Satellite Beach. My cousin came from North Carolina and my other cousins came with their kids. It was so fun to have the family together (minus Mike) and be together. I wish the day could have lasted longer! Sarah and I had a little photoshoot in the back yard because, well, thats what we do when we get together. It was awesome… so enjoy :)
 

Ryan's Christmas aura

 Our Christmas tree star fail

My sissy! 

Sarah's Visit

I am so glad that my sister decided to come down to Miami and visit me for the weekend. I was able to work from home and get some free time so we had a chance to have some fun. We did a lot of relaxing, resting, movie watching, some baking and, of course, shopping! We got Sarah her first pair of maternity pants and hit up Banana. I needed some serious fill of sister and it was perfect timing. Thanks for coming Sarah and come back soon!

Sarah with the fake bump at Motherhood Maternity

Lunch at Cheesecake Factory

Homemade cinnamon sugar almonds

New Skills

One of the best parts of my new job is that I am being challenged to learn new things. I am managing the e-learning portion of my department, so I am learning how to use different software to accomplish my goals. One of the fun new things I am learning is Photoshop. I am learning how to do basic tasks like editing pictures, creating more interactive training visuals and even create announcements for training. So in the time that I am learning, I have created some fun prints for my own use. I am not the best, but I thought I would share some of what I have done. Most of it is experimenting with church stuff (I can't post the work stuff on my personal blog). I cant wait to use this knowledge on Baby Vorwaller's baby shower!

Fall Fun

This fall has been so nice. We don't really have fall in Miami, it is just a break from the really really hot. Like it doesn't break 80 degrees until 10am kind of break. I miss the cool weather of fall and the feeling that things are changing, but I know I would only want hot weather if I had the cool weather. Despite the warm temperatures, we have had a lot of fun. We got to go home and celebrate my mother-in-law Vicki's birthday. We went out to dinner and had an awesome cake. It was fun to go home and celebrate the great mother she is.

The last few weeks has also consisted of lots of sports. Fall is the best time because you have football and then basketball! I can't wait for college basketball to start again. We had the chance to watch a UM game and a Heat game with some friends. The boys are not so photogenic so we only get pictures of girls… either that or they are too busy watching the game. I don't know which one it is :) 

Lastly, we had the chance to help with the trick-or-treat party at church. We set up a few rooms for the kids to come in and get some candy. It was kind of a mad rush, but we had a blast. Derek was a basketball player (Kentucky of course) and I was a pretty witch ;)

Now that Halloween is over I am fighting the urge to not jump into Christmas. If you have seen my Pinterest, you know I am failing. This is my favorite time of year so I can't wait to dive in and enjoy the Holiday Season! 

The Big Announcement

If you know me at all and know anything about me, you know my big sister is pregnant! We are all so excited for Sarah and Ryan to welcome their bundle of joy. It was so hard to keep the secret at first. Sarah and Ryan were very creative in telling the family. They invited the whole family to their house for dinner. Ryan had just made their dining room table and it was labor day weekend so I really didn't think about it. Sarah cooked a yummy dinner and we all enjoyed talking. After dinner, Sarah and Ryan told everyone that they appreciated their support in helping them with school, moving, Ryan's job, etc and so they had a gift for the parents. The funny thing about all of this is that, it is totally like Sarah and Ryan to just be sentimental like this, so I don't think any of us really expected an announcement like this. Anyway, they brought out a gift and the mom's both opened it to see this cute announcement.

Everyone was so in shock that we all took a second to react. Then the tears and hugging began. Even the grandpa's were wiping their eyes. Sarah showed us the ultrasound and we heard all about how Sarah told Ryan. It was such a great night! We all left on cloud nine. 

The next day we planned on going to the outlets and snuck in a little gift for Baby Vorwaller. It was gender neutral so we could get away with it! 

We had to wait what seemed like forever to find out the gender. Sarah and Ryan got a cake with filling that was colored to reveal the gender. We Skyped in and Ryan's sister and her husband, his best friend and his wife and the parents were all there. Mike couldn't Skype in so Sarah called him after. Then they cut the cake to reveal… a little girl! It was general hysteria and excitement after that.

Sarah also got to see the baby and it really looks like a baby! She has a face and feet and toes! I can't believe that Sarah is really pregnant and having a little baby girl. I can't wait to meet her and watch her grow up. It is going to be so exciting over the next few months as we get ready for her arrival. Can't wait to meet you Baby Vorwaller!

Derek's 26th Birthday

My amazing husband turned 26 on September 30th. I can't even describe how much I love and appreciate my husband. We aren't much for PDA, but I will take this chance to gush about him. I don't know anyone who works harder and smarter for his family. Derek is loyal, generous, empathetic and determined. He can make me laugh whenever I need it. He sees things I would never see and helps me look at life from a fresh perspective. He is pretty much the best guy I know... I am so lucky I snatched him up!

For his birthday we went to dinner at a little Italian place downtown. After we watched the Dolphins game and played games with friends. It was a great night! Thanks so much to everyone who came and helped me celebrate Derek! 

It's Been Too Long

WOW! What a crazy month! October just flew by without me realizing. I feel like it was just yesterday that we came home from our vacation and I started working at Royal Caribbean. But the chaos has all been good. Derek has been busy with school and school. I feel like this year is not as hard as last year and we have been able to spend much more time together. SO NICE! Work has been great for me as well. I am really liking the new challenge of my position and the opportunity to learn and grow professionally. I have a great team and I feel like I fit right in. My job is challenging, but I enjoy that I come in every day and I am challenged, not just doing the same thing. I have also learned a lot about the cruise industry and hospitality. I have a hard time believing I just started this 6 weeks ago!

I have a lot of pictures to post and I will get to those later I hope, but for now here is a quick recap of the last few weeks:
- Derek turned 26. He has accomplished so much... I am so proud of him.
- My sister, Sarah, told the family she was pregnant... and she is having a GIRL!!!!
- All my favorite TV shows started back up so I am very busy these days
- We celebrated my MIL's birthday at home
- Sports are ruling our life and I am tied for first in my fantasy league

Blog posts to follow on all of those fun things. For now I will leave you with a TV recommendation. Watch The Blacklist. It is probably the best new show on TV right now. Kevin Spader is phenomenal on it and I really can't figure out this plot... and I can usually figure out the plot twists.

Cha Cha Changes

Whew! It has been a crazy few weeks. So much has been going on and yes, there have been a lot of changes. I accepted a position as a training analyst at Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. I am so excited about this opportunity! I loved my job at Acquinity Interactive, but the commute wore on me. My job there taught me so much about how to be a better trainer. I had an amazing mentor and great support there. I will really miss it! Now I get to experience a whole new kind of company and work. I am excited and scared at the same time. I just feel really blessed to have this opportunity to work for a great company and have this opportunity to work closer to home.

Derek and I also had the chance to take a little break and go on a quick trip with our good friends Caitlin and Andrew Peterson. We all went to college together and got married within a month of each other. They are such great friends, I am so glad we made the time to do this with them! I will be post overloading that trip soon :)

So I guess that about sums up the last few weeks. Doesn't seem like much when I write it out but I have felt like a lot has changes. I am really excited about the future and I just keep feeling so lucky to have the opportunities I have been given. 

Peterson/Estes Cruise: Day 1 and Day 2

What a week! We had the opportunity to go on an awesome Caribbean cruise with our good friends the Petersons. It was the perfect week of relaxing and having adventures. The night before we left we picked up Andrew and Caitlin at the airport in Fort Lauderdale. We came back to Miami and drove around the city to show them where we live. Saturday we woke up and finished packing before heading off to the airport. Jacki was awesome to take us to the port and get us on our way. We checked in pretty easily and before we knew it, we were on the boat! Our room assignment was perfect (we were on the main deck) and we had the chance to watch as we left Miami. After that, the excessive eating began! I don't think I have ever eaten as much as I did this last week and it was awesome!

Leavin' MIA

Goodbye Miami!

The next day we had a day at sea so we got to just relax and lay out. I got to read and enjoy the pool with Caitlin while Derek and Andrew played basketball. Derek won the free throw contest and Andrew won the 3 point contest. We love our athletic husbands! That night we had our first formal night so we got to get all dressed up and took some pictures on the deck. We played "Screw Your Neighbor", the card game, every night. It took me a few days to learn how to play but we all finally got the hang of it. Caitlin was definitely the overall champ but we all had our turn to win. Having a day at sea was the perfect way to start the trip and really relax. 

The girls

Happy vacationers

The whole crew

The U and The U (we know which one is better)

Formal Night

Peterson/Estes Cruise: Day 3

Day 3 lead us to Cozumel Mexico. We decided to go to a local ruin called Tulum. We got to walk around Cozumel in the morning and see a little bit of the city, which turned out to be really beautiful and cool. Andrew did a great job at researching all of our excursions and so we headed to the ferry to take us to the mainland where we caught a cab to take us to Tulum. I don't know if any of you have driven in Mexico, but man they are crazy drivers! We had some rain when we docked but luckily we drove out of it pretty quickly.

Getting off the boat early

View from Cozumel

Walking the streets of Cozumel

Just learning while we vacation

Tulum was gorgeous. The city is located on a mountain right on the coast so the views were to die for. I always enjoy learning a little while I relax so it was cool to be able to read all of the signs and see a part of history. 

 Walking into the city

The main part of the ruins

One of the ocean views

All of us

After we walked around the ruins, and sweated like crazy!, we walked down to the beach. That was by far the coolest part of the day. You could literally go swimming right at the ruins. The water was crystal clear and perfect temperature... it was incredible. You couldn't help but stop and just admire how beautiful everything was. 

The beach

The ruins in the background

Paradise

Lovin life

We had to get a toes in the sand pic

After we thoroughly enjoyed the beach, we took a cab back to Playa and took the ferry to Cozumel. We even got some authentic tacos along the way (sooo good!). We made it back with minutes to spare, but it was absolutely worth it.