The New Year

I look forward to the New Year, I believe it is a great way to start fresh and get excited about what the coming year could bring. My idea of a perfect New Year's Eve party is actually very low key, it would be at someones house or my own, with yummy food, some bubbles and cocktails, the kids playing and dancing to the music in the background, maybe a game of taboo going on, and everyone just enjoying the time with each other.  My NYE has definitely changed over the years to say the least, but life evolves and so does your vision.

I have learned from the heartaches and enjoyed the many blessings that 2011 have brought to me, my family and friends. Relationships have blossomed, babies have been born, loved ones have passed, businesses have been developed, trips have been taken, life is being lived and memories are being made! This is more than I can ever imagine, being able to share and enjoy what is offered to me is amazing.
I am looking forward to 2012 and the many adventures that are in store for me. I can't wait to keep learning, loving, giving and receiving.

Happy New Year to all! Be safe and enjoy.

Evolving Traditions

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for many reasons. The obvious reason, all the amazing food. The corny reason, watching the Thanksgiving Day parade (because I secretly still want to be a rockette). The sporty reason, football.  And of course all the thanks that is given all day long! But what I love the most are the non traditional traditions that have developed over the years. When you get older you get to pick and choose how you want your holidays to go and of course they never go as planned but that's part of the fun and it is the chance for new traditions to develop.

Thanksgiving Eve is my favorite tradition I have choose to continue. Ever since I lived in Birmingham I can remember going out with friends and just having such a memorable time. I'm not really sure how it all started, I think it was when I was in high school my mom and I would always go out to dinner and do something fun the night before. As I got older it evolved into cocktails and appiez at a local restaurant with friends. It was great because such a unique mix of people would come out, you would have a few laughs, you could sleep in the next morning and you knew at some point there would be an amazing feast the next day.

Now that I have a Everly we will have to create a new Thanksgiving Eve tradition that will be more suitable for a little one.  That's the best part about the holidays you can create whatever memorable moment you want, it's all about being surround by the people that make you smile and laugh!

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving Eve followed by a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Let the Magic Begin

This past weekend we headed to the happiest place on earth, Disney World! We had very mixed feelings about if we should take her when she was this young or wait till she was older, but since some of Justin's family was in town to enjoy a little magic Disney style, we thought we would join in the fun too. Justin and I agreed that this was all about Everly and we were in no rush. What ever she was in the mood to do we would do and that is what we did. It was a little overwhelming for all of us at first,  since this is the "Happiest Place on Earth" there is a lot of expectation to make sure every one is happy! 

I felt like we accomplished a lot for our first trip to the Magic Kingdom, we went on five rides: Small World, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride and we ended with some Pirates of the Caribbean. We also watched two parades and saw a few of our favorite characters. I was very thankful for all the short lines as Everly has not mastered the art of patients just yet. She just wanted to keep walking right on to the ride, but who doesn't. She also wanted the ride to start immediately, she is still in that instant gratification stage of her life. 

Here is my Disney Tip: For anyone who is thinking about taking their family to any Disney theme park, pack snacks, lunch and water. It may be a magical, happy place but I did not taste any of that magic in the food. And after walking around and chasing a little one you might want something yummy to snack on and your wallet will thank you later. 

All in all the day was great, the weather was perfect and everyone had such a fantastic time. I am so glad we took Everly and got to hang out with Justin's family. We will always remember the fun time we had and all the firsts we enjoyed with our family.

I say it was a very successful first trip to Disney! 

Here we go

Daddy and Everly

On our first ride, It's a Small World

Cinderella's Castle

High Five 

Waiting for the Parade

A little snuggle with Cousin Collin

Daddy higher! 

Headed home

Smile

Fall Day Fun

Last weekend we went to a fall festival in our neighborhood. It was one of those perfect days in Florida, sunny, no humidity and a cool breeze. So of course I got out the boots and leggings, anytime it is slightly cool in Florida that is what we do break out the boots because you never know when you are able to wear them. But I also had the weekend packed with outdoor activities for the family, one being the pumpkin patch at the fall festival.

Everly wandered around picking out her perfect pumpkin for this years Halloween festivities. I wanted to get some posed pumpkin patch pictures but she has a problem with me holding her back when she has so much to explore.

And she's off

I think I like this one!

What do you think?

This one is just my size. 

Miss Representation

I recently watched a brilliant and inspiring documentary about the impact of the media on our young boys and girls it was called Miss Representation by Jen Siebel Newsom, I saw the trailer for it about a week ago and knew I needed to watch this for me, Everly and her generation. The statistics were astonishing yet not shocking all.  Here are just a few of many:

•  American teenagers spend more than 10 hours a day consuming media, most of it filled with content that objectifies women and distorts their bodies.
• Women respond to advertisers’ messages of never being good enough: American women spend more money on the pursuit of beauty than on their own education.
• 67 countries in the world have had female presidents or prime ministers. The United States is not one of them. Cuba, China, Iraq and Afghanistan have more women in government than the US does.
• Study after study proves that TV violence enhances violent behavior in real life.
• Only 16% of protagonists in film are female. Only 7% of film directors and 10% of writers are female. 

I fumble through my journey of motherhood daily, trying to figure out how not to screw up this precious opportunity I was given and how I can raise her to be a driven, passionate, loving, self confident individual. Watching this documentary just affirmed my greatest fear and conquest. I am never going to be able to shield her from everything and I don't want to, well I can't say that is completely true, if I could keep her in my little bubble forever I would... but that's not very healthy is it? The best I can do is commit to being the change I would like to see happen and lead by example. This is definitely an evolving topic for me personally as a learn for myself and my daughters future.

I encourage everyone to see this, it's not just our daughters that are impacted but our sons as well. And even if you don't have children of your own I am sure everyone has a young mind in their lives that are dear to their heart and wants the best life possible for them!

For the Girls

A few months ago my mom came to me with an idea and a plan. She wanted to partner up with our friend Dawn and open up a bridal boutique. Dawn and my mom our neighbors and her and her husband Jim have become great friends to our family. She is the owner of Bridal Ltd. in Port Orange, Florida, a bridal shop that specializes in couture bridal gowns and focusing solely on the lady of the day, after all it is all about the bride. Talking with her brides and getting to know their needs for their special day she saw a potential opportunity to provide a full service bridal boutique experience to her customers.  After some casual conversation amongst friends, my mom called me and said, "I decided I want us to do this, I want to partner up with Dawn and open up a bridal boutique. We are going to focus on bridesmaids, lingerie and accessories...oh and I want you to do it with me."

At first I didn't know what to think, to be honest I was a little upset, this has been something I wanted to do for a long time but I didn't think it was the right time in my life. And then I wasn't sure how I was going to be able do this with me living in Tampa and the boutique located in Port Orange. But then the whisper became louder and the gentle nudge turned into a firm push and I knew this was the right journey to take. After making the decision that I was on board everything started to fall into place. I was overjoyed with all the excitement and support I received from family and friends as I shared with them about this new endeavor in my life. 

So that is how For the Girls came to fruition. It will be excited to see how this process unfolds since it is all new to me. I am looking forward to sharing this experience as I learn all about this new chapter in my life! 

Positively Amazing

This past month has been the month of transitions for us. We moved into a new condo, Everly is running, I have decided to embark on a new venture and Justin continues to grow his business. So many exciting experiences have happened and continue to transpire. But what thrills me more is the amount of positive and supportive energy that is oozing out of my friends and family. It is so important to me to surround myself and my family with uplifting, positive people. People that are inspiring, loving and creative in their own way. People that are genuinely happy for you and want to see you succeed. When you share your visions and dreams with them, their eyes light up and you can see they are filled with joy not jealousy and their tone is filled with eagerness and excitement.  It is fantastic to be supported by your family but it is truly special to be cheered on by your friends. I try to live my life by these standards as well, I want to see my friends and family live out their dreams and I want to be the biggest cheerleader out there for them.

As I find myself experiencing these new shifts in my life and sharing them with friends and family, I get to learn about their fantastic changes and vision for their life. I realize how blessed I am to be surround by talented, smart, innovated individuals all making it happen for their lives.  In this social media frenzy, constantly connected, celeb crazed, negative news era we live, we need a new way to reinvent the American dream or "having it all" mentality. Making it work for your family doesn't mean you need to follow the trend everyone else follows. What's great about this time we live in, is we can do whatever we can dream of and we can have more than one dream for ourselves. Today and everyday I give thanks for the positively amazing people in my life, the dreamers, the doers, the believers. I can't wait to see how everyones vision unfolds and I look forward to sharing this journey. 

Boo Boo

Everly got her first official boo-boo yesterday and what made it official was the blood! After our guilty yet pleasurable five guys dining experience she was walking around with daddy and feeding the birds and having a grand time, then she suddenly lost her balance and face planted on the concrete. Justin came over to the table and said. "um we had a little accident" then I turned around to a crying little with blood coming out of somewhere on her face. Now the proper reaction to this situation would be what: A) "Oh honey you're ok, you are such a brave little girl, lets put some ice on it and make it better." B) Everly you are fine just brush it off." C) OH MY GOD! What Happened, oh my god she is bleeding!" The correct answer would have been A but the way I reacted was C, and I know better then to react in a frantic way but the blood got the best of me. All was well after we cleaned her up, we headed to high five and made her forget about her bleeding lip by treating her to some froyo.

Daddy and Everly froyo

Living the dream

This date will forever leave a hand print on my heart for the rest of my life.  I will always remember how I felt as I watched the tragic events play out for the world to see on September 11, 2001. I know all our lives were changed that day but I will always think about the people whose lives were changed directly from the events that have occurred. I will always be grateful for my unknown heroes that sacrificed their lives for mine and the people who continue to fight for this amazing country we live in!

To my dear friend Brad Talley, lets raise a bottle of miller light to "living the dream"! You lived your life full of color, laughter, love and the occasional inappropriate jokes/comments that only you could get away with saying! I am so thankful I was able to know you and I will never forget you! I know you are missed dearly by so many. 

Our beloved Grandfather, it was heartbreaking to hear of your loss this morning. We are so very blessed we got to spend time with you and will cherish the fond memories we have. Thank you for being such a thoughtful and caring man. We will love and miss you always.

Let us all celebrate the life we have and the lives we will miss! Live your dream for your life!

2-1, 2-1

It's time for a run! I have officially signed up for the Disney half marathon! I think I might be a little delusional but I am in good company. I will be taking this crazy journey with my mom and stepdad, my good friends Jim and Dawn and my mommy friend Amy, plus I get a free ticket to Disney!

Let the training begin!

Sweet Face

We recently traveled to Canada to visit family and friends and on our last day we got to catch up with a few friends in Vancouver. I am always thankful when I can spend some much needed face time with individuals who mean so much to me. My best friend from high school Jasika and her partner Claire are currently living in Vancouver and every time we go up to Canada we always make it a priority to spend some time with them. Jasika has always been one of my most favorite people and I cherish the times we have together, but as I have gotten to know Claire she also has turned out to be one of my favorite people as well. The first time Claire and Everly met I felt they had this special connection, I just remember how she scooped my baby girl up and just talked and played for hours, they were in their own little bubble. It always meant so much to me to see how she embraced this new person in my life. I wish we all lived closer and we could see them more but even though we don't get to talk as much as we all would like, we always have such wonderful times when we are all together. And I am so thankful Everly has them for her Aunties. 

Claire also just happens to be an amazing photographer and as soon as she walked in from work during our visit  she started snapping away at Lady E. I adore how she captured Everly's playful personality and sweet little face in these pictures. Thank you Claire for taking these beautiful photos for us! You can see more of Claire's talents at www.savageblackout.com. 

So many pictures

My Dad, Michael Fencik at Kissing Fish Productions, was the designated photographer for Everly's first birthday party. He took well over 300 pictures so I wanted to share a few more. 

How the time flies

As some of you know Miss Everly turned one at the end of July, I really can't believe how fast the year went by and I say it all the time. So when it came to planning her birthday party I didn't know what to do to celebrate this milestone in her life.

I think we all have been to a few kids birthday party's  that are pure mayhem  and some of them actually made me not want to even have kids.  I did not want crazy littles running around all hopped up on goof balls, the birthday girl not really knowing what's going on and
ripping through presents a handful at a time. No thank you!

I wanted it simple, fun and memorable for all, and that is exactly what we had. Since it was in the middle of one of the hottest months of the year( we planned that real well), our dear friends Pam and Dough lent us their house to host the party. It has a pool and that equals fun, cool entertainment for adults and children of all ages. The menu consisted of chicken fingers, fruit, bean dip, spinach artichoke pasta salad with lemonade, iced tea and juice boxes to drink. I ordered a cupcake cake from Publix that came with a complimentary smash cake for Everly. 

On the invite I asked guest to bring something of today for Everly's time capsule, we plan on opening it on her 18th birthday. I love this idea and it was so neat to see what people put in, I can't wait to open it again in 18 years with Everly. I also made a digital scrapbook that documented Everly's first year. I wish I was a scrapbooker but I am not so I edited pictures together of her first year to music, this was one of my favorite gifts to give her. I hope she enjoys watching it when she is older as much as I enjoyed making it. 

Have baby, will travel?

We have all been there before...on the plane in our seat and getting ourself situated with all our plane survival gear ready for our viewing and listening pleasure and in the back of our minds we are hoping and praying for three things. 1-that the flight will take off on time, 2-that we will have an empty seat next to us and 3-we will not have some sreaming baby/kid sitting next to us. Having a little one of my own now my biggest fear is that my usually sweet daughter will have some crazy freak out and I will not be able to control her.

This summer we have had a lot of trips planned but mostly car trips. The month of August is the month we take our traveling to the next level, by air. Now this is not Everly's first plane ride but her first trip on the plane was when she was 4 months and still a little snuggler, now she is a wild 1 year old who is always on the go.

Last weekend we went up to Pittsburg to visit some family. I called this our "dress rehearsal" for our long trip to Canada in a few weeks. It started off great, she was a little angel through security and while we waited for the plane she was making all kinds of friends. We also lucked out because there were 15 kids under the age of 4 on this flight. Now normally if I was traveling without my daughter I would have not been so thrilled with the number of small children but in this case I was ecstatic, power in numbers. Everthing was going smoothly, we boarded and even got an extra seat between us, Everly met a little girl that lived in our neighborhood and they played the whole trip up. She got a little upset when we took off, squirmed around a bit but all in all I say it was a super successful flight up.

So when it was time to do it all again and fly back home I knew she would be fine, we managed the first flight like rockstars. Hah, I was wrong! For those who know Everly she definitely has a mind of her own and I wouldn't have it any other way, however it would be nice to actually be able to reason with a 1 year old in this situation. As we started to board the sold out flight my worst fear came true, my sweet little girl had a crazy freak out. And she continued to freak out as we took our seats and as all the onlookers took theirs. I tried everything puffs, soothie, tatas nothing worked. As I felt all the eyes on me and my crazy child I began to feel the tears well up in my eyes, I knew I had to pull myself together or I would never get control of the situation. Thankfully my dad was with me and was able to buffer us from the judgmental looks and help me gather up and clean off everything Everly flung on the ground. The poor little finely cried herself to sleep and slept for almost the entire flight, for that I was ever so grateful.

My big concern now is our Canada trip in a week and the 2 long flights we have to get to the great northwest. Do we suck it up and pay for Everly to have her own seat? After this past flight I never want to travel again, until she is old enough to understand what is going on. Just one of the many joys of parenthood and traveling!

Everly and her new friend Sammy

Slumberland

I can't resist taking sleeping pictures of Everly, she looks so peaceful and adorable. She still does not sleeping through the night but I never did and I still don't. However she loves nap time and I am very thankful for that!

Happy Birthday

July 26, 2010 at 11: 43pm Everly Jon Hancock was born, 7.11lbs and 20.5 inches long. The day however started at 5:30am, I had another restless night since I was officially going on my 4th over due day. My mom just left to go home and I was about to watch my DVR of Mad Men from the night before and as I got up a gush of water came with me...and away we went. I actually felt great, ate some breakfast, took a shower, did my hair and applied some waterproof mascara and still was able to watch Mad Men before I left for the hospital.

We checked in watched the hangover and elf because nothing was happening and I wanted to laugh. I did several laps around the hospital talking with my Aunt Chris and friend Lisa.  I think around 1pm or so I started labor but again I wasn't really sure since I had no clue what I was doing. We started our baby mix playlist and I attempted to do this naturally with my Mom and Justin by my side as well as family and friends in the waiting room cheering me on. However after several hours later and no relief insight, I decided it was time for an epidural. So around 8pm this lovely Canadian anesthesiologist came in and as I was experiencing some major discomfort the fellow Canadians just chatted it up about hockey and being from Canada. I had to end that conversation real quick...come on boys focus, large ass needle going into my spine, can we skip the hockey talk till later?! Thanks!

After all that happened I finally got some much needed rest before the party started up again around 11:15pm, 34 minutes later out comes this little baby. We still didn't know what we had until my mom asked about 5 minutes later, "it's a girl" one of the nurses said. We wanted Justin to tell me but with all the excitement he forgot. Justin went out to announce the wonderful news to our cheering committee in the waiting room, which was made up of my Dad, Aunt Chris, Cousin Aaron, and great friends soon to be Aunties, Lisa and Pam. They all came in to meet the new little addition, we popped some bubbles and made a toast to this amazing miracle.

Everly Jon danced her way into this world on her own terms and I hope she continues life drumming to her own beat, full of confidence and an open, loving heart. Happy birthday sweet girl, we are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Love and hugs always!

Embrace the bump

Tomorrow will be my little bundle of crazy joy's 1st birthday, it is really hard for me to believe it has already been a year. This time last year I was rock'n one of the hottest accessories of the summer, my beautiful baby bump (and I do mean hot, it was the middle of summer in Florida), I was anticipating whether we would be bringing home a son or a daughter and I was thinking...our life is about to change FOREVER.

In honor of Everly's first birthday week, because I believe in celebrating birthdays for at least a week, I wanted to honor my awesome baby bump she gave me. I adored my baby bump and embraced it. My dear friend Jessi from AVA Photography did my belly pictures and I love all the photos she took.

Yes I was that girl who rocked the bikini when I was pregnant.
It was great, the only time
you don't have to worry about sucking in.

 Thank you again Jessi, you are so talented and I will always cherish these photos.

My gazpacho experience

Me: Honey, I made something new today and I am not sure if it turned out ok.
Justin: Well did you follow a recipe?
Me: Kind of...

Yesterday I decided I really wanted to try and make gazpacho, it has been so hot outside and it sounded refreshing and delicious. So I started my search for a recipe and I found a few I really liked. I loaded Everly up in the jogger and we walked on over to the market. Since I found a few recipes I liked I thought it would be a great idea to just combine them and create my own version.

Well, like I said above, I was not sure if it turned out the way it was suppose to. But it was loads of fun trying. This was the final result of my melon cucumber tomato gazpacho creation.

Justin: So its like a smoothie?
Me: No, its like cold soup.
Justin: Is this dinner?
Me: Yep!


We each ate our cup like adults, and I also had some grilled chicken on the side for us.

4 mile firework run

Last Saturday on July 2nd I decided I would commit to running a race with my friend Dawn and her Son Andrew. I am teetering on the idea of running my first 1/2 marathon in January and thought this would be good practice. But then as I went to bed the night before I was thinking, I am crazy for voluntarily waking up at the crazy hour of 5:30am to run in the damp humid air of summer in Florida...really?! What was a thinking!So when 5:30am rolled around oh so quickly the next day I strangely had this jolt of giddy excitement and was ready to get my run on!

This is my second race and I just love the energy and excitement in the air. The ran took place on the beach as the sun was coming up, it was a fantastic way to start the day. Running with my friends Dawn, Andrew and Jim (Dawn's hubby met up with us after his run) was a blast. 4 miles went by so fast as we talked, sang, laughed and cheered on the other runners. Thanks guys for being my running buddies!

And two of my favorite reasons I like to run, it makes the food and drinks I consume that much more enjoyable.

Me, Andrew and Dawn after our race

Cheers to running!

Happy days of independence

One of the best parts of being married to a Canadian is celebrating all the additional holidays. We get two thanksgivings, a boxing day (which is like black Friday) and two independence days.

Happy Canada Day

Rekindled

No matter what anyone says about social media sites they have connected me with some people of my past that I have lost touch with. And allows me to stay updated with friends and family that I may not be able to catch up with as much as I would like. So when my bestie from grade school and I reconnected for the second time I was thrilled. Especially since we are now living in the same city. Ashlyn and I became best friends in the 1st grade and did not leave each others side till middle school. We went everywhere together and did everything together.

We first found each other a few years ago on MySpace, we met up for brunch and was reintroduced with each other and our new families. Ashlyn was blessed with a sweet baby girl named Marissa. It was so wonderful to have her back in my life, however as life goes we unfortunately lost touch again. Then when I moved to Tampa I looked her up on facebook, I was thrilled when we reconnected again! After several months of back and forth emails we FINALLY committed to a date and met up.

You know you have a true friend when it can be years since the last time you have seen each other and it feels like only days, I love that feeling, when you just pick up were you left off. Not only was it wonderful to rekindle that friendship from my past, it was amazing to see our girls together and forming a special bond. Marissa is a few years older than Everly but she and Everly just adored each other and had a fantastic time together.

Me and Ashlyn rocken our NKOTB gear

Marissa and Everly having a little snuggle