Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! The Lord has risen and it is a beautiful day to celebrate! Jared and I hosted the family Easter celebration at our house this year and it was a wonderful occasion.

Last night, my mom, Gina and Erika (Jared's mom and sister) came over to start the festivities early and dye Easter eggs with me. 

We tried to do these fancy ones where you sort of sponge the color onto the eggs instead of just dipping them. The box said "for ages 5 and up"...I beg to differ. This was quite a challenging feat, but we still had a lot of fun doing it.

The eggs actually came out looking pretty cool and they made for a nice centerpiece on the table. 

Whenever I host an event and set my table pretty, I have to take a picture of it. 

All ready for Easter lunch!

Jared's mom, Gina, made her delicious calamondin cupcakes for dessert.

We all went to Easter service this morning at the church Jared and I are members of and then came back to our house for lunch.

 Three generations - me with my mom and grandma

 Jared and my brother

Erika and I in our Lilly Pulitzer dresses...how could it be Easter without a little Lilly? 

 Mommy and me

Me with my awesome sister-in-laws, Melissa and Erika

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

Friday's Letters

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Good Friday. Today is one of my favorite holidays, which I know seems kind of weird because it's not a typical holiday for someone to really love. Although Easter is an important Christian holiday, if you ask me, Good Friday is really just as important as Easter Sunday even though it does not get nearly as much hype. I love this holiday because it serves as a reminder of all that Jesus went through in order for us to be forgiven of our sins. When I think about what he had to endure so that others could be given eternal life, it makes the hardships in my life not seem so bad. If Jesus can get through the crucifiction, then I know he will give me the strength to get through whatever life throws at me. I also love this day because I was born on Good Friday. I guess I have always felt a special connection to this day because it makes me wonder if there was some purpose to me being brought into this world on the day that Jesus left it. Probably not, but it makes me feel special :)

Dear Spring Break, Please never end. Why can't it just be Spring Break forever? I went on so many fun adventures this past week and I am so sad that the fun has to end and I have to go back to work. Boo. Read about my Spring Break Adventures here...Timucuan, Washington Oaks, Fort Matanzas, St. Augustine Lighthouse, Anastasia, Moses Creek, Bayard.

Dear Gina, I had so much fun exploring with you this week on all our Spring Break "field trips". I can't wait to go on some more adventures again soon! I'll bring the beer :) Love you dearest mommy-in-law!

Dear Jared, Thank you for taking me on some hiking adventures this week and teaching me all of your Boy Scout skills and wilderness knowledge  Also, thank you for being a good sport and bearing with me while I documented every second of our adventure with my camera. Love you xoxo.

Dear National, State and Local Parks, Where have you been hiding all my life? I had such a great time exploring our local parks this week and I can't wait to discover some new hidden gems in this area. I learned so much about history and nature for practically free and I loved every minute of it!

Dear Nikon, Thank you for creating my camera that takes amazing pictures so that I can document all of my adventures!

Dear Sunny Weather, Please don't ever leave. It's almost April, so no more chilly weather allowed. Got it? The weather this week has been absolutely beautiful and I need it to stay sunny and get warm so that I can finally get my tan back.

Dear Easter, I can't wait for Sunday! Jared and I are hosting our family's Easter celebration at our house this year and I am so excited.

Dear Jesus, Thank you for sacrificing yourself so that we may be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life. Let us not forget the reason for the season this weekend and thank the Lord for all of the blessings He has given us.

Happy Good Friday!

Spring Break Adventures {Bayard}

Jared and I explored a local conservation area near our house today. Bayard Conservation Area is totally free to visit and offers campsites, complete with miles of hiking/biking/equestrian trails. We have seen this park from the river via boat before and we finally found the perfect opportunity to visit today.

As we hiked throughout the woods, we got to see and hear some of the local wildlife. We even saw a few turkeys...too bad we didn't have the Berettas with us. It is turkey season after all :)

The first leg of our hike led us to this wildlife observation tower that we climbed to get a better view of the area. I made Jared pose in front for a photo, which of course he hated. Too bad.

After stopping for a lunch break, we hiked out to the banks of the St. Johns River. 

There is a campsite right on the edge of the river, but I feel like camping there would probably be a terrible idea because the surrounding area looks like it is probably infested with mosquitoes and alligators. I was secretly hoping that we would see an alligator while we were out exploring, but now I realize that would probably have ended very badly.

During our hike, we ran across a portion of our trail that was underwater. Rather than turn around, we powered through the flooded area despite the fact that we had to tread very carefully right along the edge of the forest where the bear tracks were. Thankfully, my husband is super outdoorsy and has an extensive knowledge of surviving in the woods so I know that he'll take care of me if one of our adventures goes astray. Don't worry, we survived the flooded (and possibly bear inhabited) trail and finished our hike.

Over 7 miles of hiking later, we made it back to the trail-head. We only explored about half of this conservation area today, so we are definitely going to have to go back for another hike sometime soon. Maybe we'll even plan a camping trip out here!

Spring Break Adventures {Moses Creek}

Gina and I finished out our day exploring a local conservation area close to her house. Moses Creek Conservation Area has a ton of hiking, biking and equestrian trails in addition to campsites. We didn't get to spend too much time here because it was getting late in the day and we didn't want to get trapped out in the woods in the dark. Safety first :)

We hiked the first trail into the conservation area which led us to a group campsite and then let out into the marshlands of the Matanzas River.

The sun was just starting to set over the marsh and the area we were exploring looked like pristine alligator habitat, so we decided that we should get out of there and end our adventure for the day.

I had to snap a few photos before we began our hike back to the car. I'm always playing photographer :) 

We did not get to do nearly as much exploring in this area as we would have liked, so we are definitely planning on coming back soon to hike the rest of the trails. 

Spring Break Adventures {Anastasia}

After our visit to the lighthouse, my mother-in-law and I ventured right down the road to Anastasia State Park. I have been to Anastasia before with Jared, but this was Gina's first time at the park.

There is an entry fee per vehicle to get into the park (as with every State Park), but once you're inside you can enjoy the nature/hiking trails and the beach at your leisure. There is also the opportunity for beach cruiser rentals and various water-sports rentals at the salt marsh. 

Gina and I hiked the Ancient Dunes nature trail through the maritime hammock of the park. We even spotted (well, heard at first) this little woodpecker up in the forest canopy that I managed to snap a photo of. Thank you Nikon zoom lens.

We hiked out to the marsh that separates the maritime hammock from the dunes of the beach.

Anastasia has a boardwalk that leads you across the marsh and out to the beach. From the boardwalk, you can see the St. Augustine Lighthouse just beyond the maritime forest hammock.

I just couldn't resist the urge to snap a panorama of the marsh, dunes and beach. 

We are definitely going to come back to Anastasia when the weather is warmer to fully enjoy the beach access and go kayaking across the salt marsh!

Spring Break Adventures {St. Augustine Lighthouse}

My mother-in-law and I embarked on yet another day of St. Augustine adventures! This morning, we kicked off our day with a visit to the St. Augustine Lighthouse. Neither of us had ever visited the lighthouse before so we were super excited about doing this together!

Upon entering the lighthouse museum, I learned two things about this historical landmark that may have quickly elevated it to one of my favorite spots to visit in St. Augustine. #1 - They sell beer. #2 - St. Johns County residents (aka: both my mother-in-law and I) pay a one day admission and get a pass to come back to the lighthouse for unlimited access for an entire year, for free! So it looks like Gina and I will be spending the next year drinking beers in the lighthouse, yippie!

The grounds surrounding the lighthouse itself are beautiful and full of history. 

We made the climb of 219 steps one way to the top of the lighthouse. It was exhausting, but totally worth it for the amazing view!

We could not have picked a more perfect day for a trip to the top of the lighthouse! 

I could not get enough of this view...the Tolomato River directly in front of us and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. I just wanted to stay up there all day, but I had a reward waiting for me at the bottom :)

I can't wait to come back and use our resident pass to enjoy this view again!

Gina even busted out her binoculars to get a better view of surrounding St. Augustine. 

Pictured below is the view of historic downtown St. Augustine from the top of the lighthouse.

 

To celebrate our 438 step accomplishment, we rewarded ourselves with one of those beers!

If you have never visited the St. Augustine lighthouse before, I highly recommend it. It is a fairly inexpensive, fun and educational way to spend the day. Gina and I had a blast experiencing this together!