New Arrival, now announcing....

....Avalynn Kay Strom! 

I do not have a picture downloaded yet, but there are many you can see at www.joshtayloe.com. Avalynn is the sweet and beautiful little girl born a couple of days ago to our friends, Jana and Zack, here in Jax. Congratulations to the new parents!!!

Catching up!

This week has been super crazy! I had a busy week with work and I am now getting ready for Jeremy to get here! I am excited because he will be flying in today and we have a lot planned for the weekend! We will have plenty of pictures to share for sure so I will post those next week. For now I just want to give a shout out to my good friends Frances and Divina who both have birthdays today! Happy Birthday girls!!! 

Happy Birthday to Stef....and Will Smith!!!

Happy Birthday BlackMan! 

Stefan and I became great friends when we both lived in AZ. He was an amazing friend, a fun companion, and a wonderful spiritual leader! 

AZ would not have been the same without you Stef! 

I wish you a fabulous birthday and many, many more!!!

Luv, Steph (aka Robin)

Friends Forever

If girlfriends can stay friends through the fashion of the 90's, well, I think that it is a pretty strong friendship!!! LOL! Just wanted to send out a very Happy Birthday to one of my dearest friends...Faith! We have been friends for....oh wow...let's see....18 years????!!! This picture was taken in 1994, our senior year in high school! And, we are now officially 'thirty SOMETHING'! Hope your day is fabulous my friend!!! Love ya!!

Seriously???

So, today was absolutely beautiful here in FL. The humidity was low, there was a cool breeze, and the sky was gorgeous. I was enjoying the nice cool down but low and behold....it rained. I heard that it did not rain AT ALL when I was in AZ visiting! I think everyone was just pulling my leg. I don't believe a day can go by here without rain!!!

The WOMEN...

Tonight Joshua and I went to go see a movie and since the boys were not with us (Scott is in Alabama on business, and Jeremy was not in town) we chose to go see the biggest chic-flick of them all...a movie called THE WOMEN. The cast was full of fabulous and highly acclaimed women including Meg Ryan (love her), Debra Messing (the hairstyle was a little big), Jada Pinkett Smith (woman LOVER in this particular film), Eva Mendes (mistress), and Annette Bening (the high exec) among others. It turned out to be quite a cute movie and one I could very much relate to. Life's events, finding oneself, and letting go of things of the past were all part of this lovely movie which I would definitely recommend to any chic-flick fan. There was one very interesting aspect of this movie though...I don't know how they made a WHOLE entire movie without them...but when the movie ended we realized...there were absolutely no men cast in the movie. Check it out and see for yourself...

Me and my four-legged boys...

Josh was trying out some new photo equipment and lights so he asked me to sit down and pose for a few test shoots. So, I grabbed the boys and gave 'em some lovin'!

I'm how old?

Yep, I have taken another trip around the sun and find myself celebrating yet another birthday today. I must say, I was absolutely THRILLED to turn 30 last year and put my 20's behind me but now...31?? What kind of age is this?? Stuck in the middle of 30 and FORTY, that's what!! Oh well, I cannot complain. God has been very good to me this past year and thank God for the phrase of 'thirty-something'!

Oh, and thank you to all of my friends and family who have sent birthday wishes and/or who have called me today! Your kind words and wishes have meant a lot to me! 

Baby Shower

This afternoon the Cul-de-Sac Crew threw Jessica a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Mya! We had a great time! We all pitched in to help too. I was on the creative team(surprise!) making the invitations, diaper cake (which I was very proud of ) and some other little fun stuff for the party, Stephanie handled the decor along with the cake and food, Joshua helped with pictures, and Scott made his famous cheese and crackers (pre-packaged at Publix for his convenience). The 'hubbies' spent time golfing as we enjoyed the shower and then watched the movie Baby Mama! 

Mya's Room!

Our neighbors are just 6 weeks from having their first little one! Their daughter Mya is due to arrive at the end of October and they hired me to paint her baby room! As you can see in the first picture, they chose some really cute bedding with great colors and fun bugs and flowers. Derek painted the pink at the bottom and the brown mid-border and I added the circles on the border, her name, and all of the fun bugs (to match the bedding). It turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself! ;)

Sebastian's Birthday

So, last week was Sebastian's Birthday so we headed down the street to Bruster's for ice cream. They give out doggie cones there so Sebastian was treated to a sweet treat while the other boys had to wait at home! Even though we are not 100% sure he knew what was going on, he seemed to enjoy the outing and we all enjoyed our special treats as well! Any excuse for ice cream...yummy!

Remembering 9/11

This will just always be one of those days. We will all remember where we were at, what we were doing, and the thoughts that ran through our mind as we watched the towers crumble to the ground. It was just a typical morning, like any other. And, in moments, not only did we as Americans change, our history changed as well. We remember this day with respect and pride. To all the lives that were affected, and to all the lives that were lost, we will remember you and this day forever. May we all sense hope, love, restoration, and peace from above no matter what the past, present, and future holds. 

The Butterfly Awaits...

Staying positive and thinking happy thoughts is definitely a daily choice! I was very thankful that I was able to borrow my brother's car this morning to get to work. I continued to wait to hear about my jeep but by 10:00 I still hadn't heard anything. Was it "No news is good news", or "No news is bad news"? When it comes to car repairs, I wasn't sure which way the old cliche went. It was easy to think the worst, but then Harry came in to the YMCA. 

Harry is one of the first members I met when I started working at the YMCA. Unfortunately, Harry has Lou Gerig's disease and had to use a walker to get around the facility. His health was getting worse but he always had a smile on his face. About a month ago we got the news, from Harry himself via email, that he was checking into hospice. His humor and incredible spirit shined through even in the midst of the unknown. However, after only a few days of dealing with hospice, it is my understanding that Harry was not ready to be terminally inactive and decided to manage the rest of his remaining days without their help. And, is he ever. Even though he is now in a wheelchair, his wife wheeled him into the YMCA today and he got on a stationary bike and pedaled. He greeted people, wore his contagious smile, and talked about the gorgeous day we were having. 

I have only known Harry for 6 months but he has already become one of the most inspirational people that I have known personally. He is an amazing example of living life in a positive light and making the most of the days he has been given. May we all find the positive in the negative, the opportunity instead of the obstacle, and the joy in the midst of hard times. 

Thankfully the jeep dealership finally called. My jeep just needed a new battery.  :)

Beautiful Butterflies...

So, yesterday was just 'one of those days'. It started when I had to go get new car tags. I ended up having to re-enter the line three times due to forgetting something I needed in my car for the FL registration. I ran a few errands and in the process my jeep decided it was not going to start. Two people tried to help jump my car but unfortunately with no success. I waited for AAA for awhile and as soon as he got there it started up right away (ironically). However, as soon as I left the parking lot (mind you, the AAA guy had come and gone within 47 seconds), it died again. My brother was so kind enough to come to my rescue and he followed me to the closest jeep dealership after I got my jeep running again. We got there, dropped it off, and I jumped into his car. We headed out and got on the on ramp to the highway. Scott had just packed up several large boxes full of new brochures and catalogs to mail out. Unfortunately, the back of his SUV was not shut all the way and all of a sudden we heard the back door open and looked back just in enough time to see the boxes falling out onto the on ramp. It had been raining on and off all day so the ground was very wet. We tried to salvage everything we could as cars were driving past us. All we could do was laugh and we thanked God for the positives in the situation. We were okay, his briefcase with his laptop had not fallen out of the car, thankfully it had stopped raining during all of this chaos, and I was grateful my boss was okay with me getting to work late. 

Sometimes life sucks. Unexpected and inconvenient things happen. It is easy to be broken and focus on the negatives and stress out about the money we don't have and the time and mishaps we cannot afford. During the 2 1/2 hours that I was waiting for help to come I ended up walking into a nearby Barnes and Noble (another positive...I broke down by a lot of shops which kept me entertained). I have a lot of mottos and quotes that I like to recite, but I happened to stumble upon another one that I will be adding to my list. 

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it turned into a butterfly."

I love it! It is definitely a quote to remember and I will certainly be hanging onto it as I anxiously await to hear news about my jeep...

More big news...

Not only did Jeremy and I's engagement become official on September 1st (see our blog for more details) my new business name and website became official as well! FRANNIE'S is now up and running! Order your holiday cards TODAY! And, pass the news around!

Check it out at: www.franniesonline.com

Phoenix FUN

This past weekend I was in PHX and it was quite the weekend! I started it off on Thursday painting Joshy's bedroom (the little boy I used to nanny for in PHX). I ended up painting his room in a fireman theme and was really happy that I was able to do that while I was there visiting! His mom actually gave birth to a beautiful little boy that Saturday! Congratulations again Mike and Julieann!


The weekend was full of wonderful times and stories. Jeremy actually flew into town to spend some time in PHX with me as well! All I will say is that last year on September 1st, I had the most amazing, wonderful surprise birthday party thrown for me, and this September 1st....well, you will just have to see the amazing surprise that I got! For more on the BIG NEWS, view our corresponding blog...

http://stephanieandjeremy.blogspot.com/