Here comes the sun!

Our weather has been awesome this weekend, in the upper 50's and low 60's. It was a great opportunity to get outside and take more pictures with my new camera!

And the winner is...

The Nikon d3100! It felt the best in my hands, is easy to operate, has some controls on the left hand side (great for a lefty like myself) and was the right price. I got the camera at our local Wolf/Ritz Camera Store, it was the same price as Amazon and I get 9 free classes! I am super excited to start learning how to take better photos. I have been having fun playing with a few of the different settings on the camera on my own. Dylan has been pretty good about letting me take his pictures and the cats have been pretty good subjects too.
Here are a few of the pictures I have taken so far.

I think the flower photos turned out the best. These are straight out of the camera and a million times better than our point and shoot. (Yes, I know they should be).  I am excited for us to have some nice weather so I can get outside and take more pictures with some better light. 

Two-Fer Tuesday

Somehow our honeymoon cruise was different than the one we took a few weeks ago...

 In Cozumel with friends we met on the cruise, Chris & Carolyn.

Our dinner table.

Zucchini Parmesan

Seriously, you need to make this Zucchini Parmesan from A Cozy Kitchen. It could be the best thing you eat all month. I'm not kidding, make it tonight and it will become a go to dish in your house, it has in ours!

P.S. I took a picture of the finished product, but it doesn't do justice to the wonderfulness of this dish so you will just have to click on the link to the recipe to start drooling. BTW, MUST GET NEW CAMERA!

A nice, new camera!

I am so excited to be getting a nice, new digital SLR camera! (thanks Mom!) Now I just have to choose which one to get. Anyone have any suggestions? I am thinking a Nikon or Cannon, entry level type camera. Right now I am leaning towards the Nikon D3100, overall the reviews are very good and Amazon has a deal that gives you an big discount on an additional lens.

After I get the camera I am going to be taking some photography classes at UT so I can actually use the camera and hopefully take some good photos. Wish me luck!

Two-Fer Tuesday

This is what happens when you give Dylan the camera and his Grandma's too much wine :)

Cruise!

We had a great time on our cruise! It was a lot of work wrangling Dylan, but overall he did really good and had fun too! It also helped to have family to help us out.

Here's a quick look at our trip.

We set sail from the Port of Miami at 4pm last Monday.

Our first stop was Tuesday morning at Nassau, The Bahamas. Dave, Dylan and I, the Grandmas and Kyle and Amie too a cab over to Atlantis to check out the aquarium, casino and hotel.

 We also went to the beach in Nassau. Dylan had a great time playing in the sand and water. The rest of us had fun relaxing in the sun and enjoying a few adult beverages!

Tuesday night's dinner on the cruise was formal night so we all got dressed up for dinner. Before dinner we had cocktail hour in Dana and Paul's balcony suite.

It was also Carolyn's birthday on Tuesday and we were all expecting her to be surprised by cake and singing at dinner, but Kyle had a surprise for all of us...

Amie was surprised too! And she said YES!!

It was a lucky night for Kyle, he won the slot tournament in the casino too!

Wednesday we were moored just off Carnival's private island, Half Moon Cay. We had perfect weather for our day at the beach and everyone took advantage of the great weather to work on their tans and play in the sand and water!

  Dylan even got buried in the sand!

 
Thursday brought us to Grand Turk. It was a little cloudy and rainy, but we still managed to do some exploring on the island.

Dana and Paul, Kyle and Amie and Dave and I also took a snorkeling trip while we were in Grand Turk. One of our guides caught a sting ray at our first stop and at our second stop we saw a barracuda in addition to all of the gorgeous tropical fish and the reef.

The final day of our cruise was At Sea, and it was windy and cloudy, but it made for a great sunset!

 
 After we got off the ship on Saturday we headed to Miami Beach and Collins Ave where we found a street festival and park for Dylan to play at. Saturday night was spent relaxing at the hotel. Sunday, Carolyn, Kyle and Amie headed to the airport for their flight back to Omaha and Dave, Dylan and I went to Bayside Marketplace near the Port of Miami to shop and have lunch. Dylan loved the mac & cheese at Bubba Gumps!

  On our way back to the airport we made a stop in Ft. Lauderdale for one final visit to the beach.

We got home late last night due to our flight being delayed. It was a great trip and we were happy that our families could join us!