Mom + Dad

They sure did an outstanding job raising FIVE different kids… we are all independent… have learned to embrace ourselves and those around us and to never stop chasing after our hearts desires…

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Thanks Mom + Dad for all you have done and continue to do. Love y’all.

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D+H Come to America

My little brother that got engaged on July 4th in Australia, brought his fiance Hannah with him to meet the family and attend a wedding he was a groomsmen in out in California.

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So my mom and dad planned an engagement party for them with our immediate and close relatives… Cordie and I arrived a few days early to get a little more time with them (we drove from FL)… My brother Bobby flew in from Brazil (after living there for 4+ months).. My oldest brother, Michael flew in Friday afternoon from LA and Elizabeth arrived Friday late at night from NYC! Staying up late and sleep depriving ourselves we really were able to cram in a lot of good quality catch-up time.

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All 7 of us have not been together in almost three years so it was not only special to be celebrating Donald and Hannah but also that we were all together again and had a blast staying up into the wee hours of the morning… getting our favorite sno-cones (Austin will always have the best) taking LOTS of pictures all over the city.

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(it was really bright out hence all the squinty eyes)

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Before the big celebration we enjoyed Texas’s oldest BBQ-Blacks Est. 1932 in Lockhart, Texas… Tio Carl treated us to their awesome t-shirts. We got to meet Mila June for the very first time, she is 8 months old and as sweet as can be-my cousin Erica is an amazing mother and Junior is a great father!

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Donald, Hannah, Bobby, Cordie and I rented bikes one evening and toured the city via their bike and hike trails that circled downtown Austin and is right on Town Lake or Lady Bird Lake…we got stuck in torrential downpours and waited under the infamous Bat Bridge for over an hour to watch the bats fly out at sundown and to also stay covered from the storm.

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hannahs bike ride pic

Of course we treated ourselves to sno-cones in between the rain. :)

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We are more than thrilled for Hannah to join our crazy, loud, caring family.

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The gift of adventure

This weekend Cordie and I sat down to discuss & plan the next six months to nine months… which at first may sound crazy or unrealistic but when we both have jobs that require some travel… we also already have dates set of friends and family’s weddings…we are thoroughly excited for each of our upcoming trips and for fall to arrive…however..

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…as we move into the Autumn season here in Florida the weather may not change as drastically as other places but we have both been inspired to re-organize, re-arrange and de-clutter our two bedroom/two bathroom apartment… which you would think would not have very much space to store ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ but it feels like there are more things coming in than going out… then a friend of ours posted a link to this blog: http://www.becomingminimalist.com/decluttering-principles/ which gave us fuel to try and instill some of these principles as we do some ‘fall cleaning’ and plan for our dates we will be on the ‘road’ and eventually moving to another location…

#7 in her post:

Gifts Do Not Have to be Material. There are so many ways to honor loved ones without giving gifts that end up as clutter. Encourage people to follow this concept when buying gifts for you. Some alternative gifts are gifts of experience or adventure, even cash gifts are appropriate in some instances.

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Which brings me to the title of my post… how do you express to people to stop sending you ‘stuff’ or in some cases their ‘junk’ that they are trying to de-clutter and simply think without asking we would want it or EVEN have a place to put it… then realistically you can’t just throw it away(re-gift it) because the individual (s) WILL ask you about the items etc… the above blog post excerpt says to “encourage people to follow this concept when buying/giving gifts…”

HOW would YOU do this without sounding completely ungrateful for more gifts of random odds and ends that have no real value or importance… staying in the mindset of ‘well it’s the thought that counts’ or do you move out of it?

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(above is where we spent some of FALL 2014)

Yes, it is only September but the next couple of months we both will be celebrating a couple occasions then its the holidays and with wanting to keep grateful hearts we both have already started discussing HOW can WE communicate we don’t WANT or NEED more THINGS!?

What we REALLY want is to travel… to see new places… to eat new foods… experience an unknown culture to us… breathe in the remote air of the vast Australian Outback… or take a tour of the North/South Korean Border… stay in a bungalow over the ocean… walk the streets of LA for a day or sit in a hot tub over looking the Rocky Mountains… the gift of adventure is a gift we both hope to be able to give to each other and hopefully in the future our own children or family and friends.

 

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Above: Where we hope to spending a few days this December. :)

Disclaimer: Don't get me wrong... I LOVE to give gifts... and if you have recently given us gifts we are very thankful for them... we are just working on 'changing' our ways. :) 

 

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Labor Day Weekend

We both took advantage of the long weekend to relax… spend some time together without either of us working… It was a great way to finish August and begin September!

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We went to see the movie, The Giver (we would both highly recommend) on Friday followed by a nice evening stroll along the beach… Saturday we had dinner with friends of ours out at their parent’s house on the river. They have an infinity pool and nice hot tub so we spent a lot of time hanging outside with their dogs.

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Becky and I thoroughly enjoyed the dolphin floaties Judie has for when kids come over. :)

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Monday we got up early and went boating with the Clarksons and stopped on the intercoastal near Fort George… It was a perfect day.

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Sunshine. Waves. Dolphins. Good Company. Life Jackets as floatable chairs.

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There are more pictures here from the weekend.