The Dune Buggy adventure

First an update on me.  In the month of August, I took on a third part-time job working at Publix. I was hired to work in the bakery and open a brand new store by our house. When I was hired, I decided that I could leave my Disney job and just have two jobs again (Publix and Artisan Club in Celebration). Well Publix put me to work right away before I had time to make any adjustments. Needless to say, for a couple weeks this month, I was stupidly working three jobs.   I thought to myself why on earth would I voluntarily work three jobs? After much discussion, we decided to scale down. I picked the job I liked the most (and that paid the most) and let go of the other two. Overall I think it was a good decision. I have more time to focus on other things I want to get done and still live fairly comfortably. I don't know why I waited so long to take this plunge. 

Anyway, now I have one job, that I work 30-35 hours a week and I think that is perfect. Steve and I have much more time to spend together and as such have been making more progress on the dune buggy. Yesterday we found some gauges online that were perfect for our needs. They were such a great deal we could not pass them up. The only problem was, they were in Inverness, Florida about an hour and forty-five minutes north east of Davenport. For those of you who are not watching the news, we also have a highly publicized Tropical Storm by the name of Fay terrorizing our state this week. That made the trip extra windy and rainy but to be honest, Elwood and I were just happy to get out of the house. We haven't done much since the storm started to hit Monday night.

So Thursday morning, we dodged some raindrops and mowed the lawn quickly. It has been growing at record pace with a week straight of rain. Did I mention that I now know how to mow the lawn? I have done it about three times by myself and I'm pretty proud of it. Steve took pictures for all you non-believers (Mom). 

     

      

Anyway, after getting the lawn mowed, we set out on our trek to Inverness, Florida to retrieve our gauges.  Like I said, It has been a dreary week in Florida so we just needed to get out of the house.

   

                    

Steve, Elwood and I set out.  The weather wasn't too bad in the beginning, but it definitely got worse.

For those who don't know, this is what a Tropical Storm/Hurricane looks like and has looked like all week long!

We finally arrived at the airboat supply store and bought our gauges. 

Elwood was such a good boy in the car. We decided to stop for dinner on the way home.

   

We stopped at Chick-fil-A, one of Elwood and Steve's favorites.

Here are some of the stormy views from the drive thru.

      

After "dinner" we stopped at Lowes to pick up some steel.

                         

It was here that I saw the first bit of sky I've seen in a week. It's funny how we take things like great weather for granted in Florida. I took a picture of it and I'm glad I did because unfortunately, it didn't last long. :(

                                          

That was our day. We made some more progress on the buggy. Check out our other blog to see the details. We are looking forward to this Labor Day weekend when the Families are getting together. It should be tons of fun!

New Job Update

Well, it's been about a month since I started my two new jobs and I thought I would write about how everything was going.  As some of you may know, I went part time at Disney and went back to recreation to clean the pools at 5:00 in the morning.  I know, I'm not a morning person, but the hours are good for me because I finish my day at 1:30 and have tons of time to get things done, see people or work my other job.  I work there on Friday and Saturday mornings. Plus, bonus, my "sister" Paulette works there too, at Animal Kingdom Lodge that is.  I get to see animals up close and personal every day.  It's a lot of fun. My other job or my "real" job is cooking at the Artisan Club in Celebration, Florida.  The club is for the residents of Artisan Park in Celebration and it has a small cafe that is open six days a week for lunch and one night a week for dinner. There is one other chef who works there (and has since it opened).  I seem to be settling in with the other co-workers and members.  I really like the atmosphere.  Only about four or five people work there in a given day, which is a huge change from the thousands at Disney.  So far I work there three or four days a week.  Steve and I are still balancing our schedules.  It seems like we are on totally opposite work schedules.  Just when we got settled in with my old schedule and Steve got the same days off and similar hours, I go and change it all up again.  I really like having a more flexible schedule now.  I feel like I am finally in control of my work schedule.  I never work later than 8:30 or 9 at night which actually lends me to have a life!  The last couple weeks have been a bit crazy though with all the training at both jobs.  I think I'm finally done with all that now and can actually get into a routine.  I'm also very excited that my best friend from college, Angela is moving up to Orlando from West Palm Beach in a month.  I'm so glad she will be closer.  It will make getting together so much easier.  I guess that's all the new stuff going on with me.  Looking forward to a great summer and the beginning of my 25th year. The weather has been awesome so far in Florida but a little dry.  I don't remember the last time it rained.  Hopefully it does soon so that the wildfires don't get too out of control. By the way, Steve and I got a new car this week too. He's driving a Honda Pilot. It's sort of a family car but don't get any ideas, we're not talking about that yet!  Besides, Elwood really likes having the whole back seat to roll around in!   

Cruising again.

Steve and I were very fortunate to go on another cruise this week.  We sailed on the Disney Wonder from April 20-24th.  

                                         

It was awesome.  We sailed to Nassau and then to Disney's Castaway Cay.  We were able to stay at Castaway Cay for two days instead of the second day being at sea because they were doing some painting and scrubbing on the boat.  The weather was great the whole time.  It never rained and wasn't too hot.  We sailed with Mom and Dad Schmidt and Suzie and JD.                                                                        

                                              

It was great to have to whole family together.  We were able to relax a lot and take naps everyday and get some much needed fun in the sun.

               

              Steve and I sailing on Castaway Cay.

      

All in all, it has been a great couple of weeks.  Friday the 11th was my birthday and for the first time in years, I was able to celebrate on my Birthday with my family.  Steve, Elwood and I went to my Mom and Dad's house for her famous lasagna and cake.  Mom and Dad Schmidt and Suzie came. Grandma and Grandpa Weiss and Heather and Donald and Sparrow came too.  We missed you Ashley.  :(  

  

                                          Suzie and Elwood

                             

                  Elwood really wanted some cake!

It was a great couple of weeks and it seems like the month of April went by so fast. As some of you may know, I crashed my car a couple of weeks ago.  Hopefully it will be out of the shop tomorrow.  Yay!  I'm okay, just bad luck I guess.  Luckily, all the damage was on my car.  I also start working my new job next week.  I have dropped down to part time at Disney and have transferred back to recreation as a pool attendant.  I'm going to be working at Disney two or three days a week and at the Artisan club in Celebration as a cook the other days of the week.  I now have two part time jobs but at least I like them both.  I hope I am able to work out my schedule so that I don't work too much now.  So far my 25th year is going really well.  Even though I crashed my car and had to say goodbye to some great people at Caribbean Beach, I know I have made many lasting friendships that I will carry with me a long time.  I feel like I am in a really good place right now.  More to come...

Spring Rolls Along!

In just a few short days, the lilies have come to life.  Who needs the flower and garden festival? Here are some more pics I took over the last three days. 

      

      

                    

It's Spring!!

People always talk about how satisfying and therapeutic gardening can be.  I had the joy of spending a couple hours pulling weeds in my front bed a couple weeks ago and I have to say that it was indeed very gratifying. 

                                    

I was very proud of how everything looked but this week the bed has taken on a new life.  I have inherited some lilies from my mom.  I planted them a while back and never really expected them to survive.  Today, when I walked outside to my delight, they started to bloom. 

                            

I've never really experienced season changes since I'm a Florida girl but today it hit me, It's spring!  I took some pictures of the buds that seemed to have shot up out of the ground over night.    

                               

            

 I will take some more photos when they bloom.  I also planted some mums that I bought in November.  They looked like they were going to die several times, especially since Elwood likes to dig them up on a regular basis.  To my delight, one of them is really taking off too, and the other one has some small buds.  I'm excited I was actually able to make things grow!  More excitement to come in the next couple of months I think!

                                         

Lazy Days...

I haven't been blogging much lately.  Work has been a little crazy the last couple of weeks and now when I get a few moments at home, I usually spend them relaxing on the couch.  I know, so lazy.  I'm also of course, watching the NCAA tournament right now, cause I just can't resist the madness.  I do however have some pics from the wedding cruise we recently attended for our friends, Kirsten and Mike.

Pulling into Nassau.

                                      The Happy Couple...

                   The other happy couple!

We met some really fun people on the cruise that attended the wedding.  There were some fun parties that we enjoyed together.

Me and Deb.   Deb's husband Sean.

We had a great time.  Steve and I are fortunate enough to be able to go on another cruise next month with his family.  We are so lucky to have so many great vacations this year.  

Hmm, Blogging!

As some of you know, I have started a blog page for Steve and I displaying our dune buggy project.  I realized that I had much more to say and decided to get my own page going.  This will be the place to check out everything else that is going on in the Schmidt life.  I am very excited because Steve and I are leaving for our friends' wedding cruise on Friday.  I love to cruise.  Steve and I could really use a break.  It has been a very busy year for us and as you may know, our families were on our honeymoon or "familymoon" as we are calling it now.  I hope we have some time just to ourselves on this trip and have a fantastic time.  I just wish it was longer than just three days!  

Today I am taking Elwood to the doggie spa to get a bath, teeth cleaning and pedicure.  Surprisingly, he really loves going.  He hates doing all those things at home but for some reason at the spa, he can't get enough.  He has to get all pretty cause he is 

going to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house this weekend while we are on the cruise.  

Well, unfortunately I have to run a bunch of errands now in preparation for the trip and hopefully catch a nap because I'm going out with some friends tonight and I have a feeling it will be a late night...