March 26 2014 Update

I have meant to post before now but Vic was using my lap top while hers was getting fixed. I have my beautiful pink laptop back in my  hands now and will do better to stay caught up!

In my last blog I mentioned the five people I knew having babies. I can now tell you that one is my niece and the other is my nephews girlfriend. One is having a girl and the other a boy! I have only purchased a few things so far but go crazy every time I'm in a store with baby things. It is going to be so wonderful to have a baby around!

Also since the last post , Vic and I went to see Rosie O'Donnell at McCurdys comedy club. I bought the tickets for a Christmas gift but had to spoil the surprise when Vic was about to buy the same tickets not knowing I had gotten them already. The show was  planned for January but Rosie had some tooth problem and had to re-schedule the show for March. The show was hilarious! We had a really good time time and ran into some friends there too.

We've been super busy around the house with some plans on remodeling and stuff. Not ready to share all of those details yet but will soon hopefully with pictures of before and after. I'm looking forward to a new fence so the dogs can spend more time out in the yard without the barking. I think if they don't SEE the neighbors they won't bark at them...right? Let's hope!

Here are some recent photos of my world..

Vic went back to a charcoal grill, yummy surf and turf 

Picture taken at McCurdy's Comedy Club when we went to see Rosie O'Donnell

My sister Steph got me addicted to these! Nerds jelly beans.

Dexter getting some kisses in while we are trying to take a selfie

St Patty's day Selfie 

Getting supplies ready for girls weekend 

Joined Pinchme.com so I get free samples. Love it! 

My March Glam Bag from Ipsy, Love it!!

I love it when I go to the mailbox and my #Ipsy glam bag is there! To get yours toohttp://www.ipsy.com/r/44in

Night out with friends 

Full moon over Venice 

2014 The slacker returns

Hello! I just looked to see when my last post was and it was Nov of last year...and not even a real post..a Christmas video thingy I made. What a slacker! I've been thinking about doing more regular posts but we see how well that has worked out.

It's now almost 2 a.m. and I can't fall asleep so instead of fighting it for another few hours I thought I'd try and do something with my time. Like update my blogs!

2013 could not have ended soon enough for me. When I think back over the entire year it wasn't all bad. We had some really good times but losing my dad really took its toll on me last year. I'm still finding it hard to know when the blues are going to hit me like a ton of bricks. Tonight was one of those times. Ugh.

Ok back to catching up. I'll start with Christmas since that was my last post. We had Christmas at my sisters like we do every year. My nieces decided they wanted to have an ugly sweater contest. We had a lot of fun making our sweaters.

It was a good Christmas but different. Different because my dad was gone. Different because before the holidays no one had really been in communication with my younger sister. Different because my nephew didn't come. Different in how we opened our gifts...just different. 

I started working two days a week in our Venice office with my mom, sister and brother in law. I'm really liking the change of pace. I must say I do appreciate our small operation on Siesta Key after a few crazy days in Venice...it's all good. It's a good way to stay connected to the family. Being out of sight is often out of mind too with our family..or so it seems.  I'm really struggling without my dad and to me it seems like I'm the only one.

On to New Years Eve...Vic and I went to St Petersburg and stayed at the coolest hotel on the beach. We went out to an event for the night called Butchlesque. It is a fashion show of sorts honoring Butch women. Our good friends put it on , this was the third one we've attended and it was the best yet!  It was wonderful seeing so many different women of all ages getting all dressed up for a night of dancing and fun.

January started off with a trip to the emergency room for Vic. Her doctor thought she was having a heart attack so she called the ambulance and I got a phone call to follow her up to Sarasota Memorial. Scary few days but everything checked out. Thank goodness for insurance !
Dexter didn't get through the month without some doctor time either. He went in for a teeth cleaning and came back minus 9 teeth! It was worth it..he can kiss on me all he wants now..what a difference in his breath! He seems to be a happier pup too.



I caught up with my friend Lisa and learned what fun Bingo can be! I can't wait to do it again next week!

February is half way done almost..can't even believe that! We celebrated our 5 year anniversary last weekend by going to the Florida State Fair. It was a lot of fun!

Here is a video I made for our anniversary..it's long but I had to fit five years worth of photos in there! lol
I hope to update a lot more often this year. Thanks for reading and commenting..Love ya!
Happy 5th Anniversary

Weekly Update July 22 2012

I feel like this was such a stressful week. We had work issues with cleaners and not just on one property but on several. Had to let some go, warn others and hire some new ones. It really stinks that we can put so much time and attention into managing a property and lose it over something we don't control (how good of a job the cleaning teams do) ..anyway...we survived and learned some lessons and will be making the necessary changes so it doesnt ever happen again.

I did have some positive news this week. I found out my dad is coming to visit in August!
My sister will be out of jail in August (another long story that I have chosen not to blog about ..yet) I had my "meet the surgeon" this week and am anxious to get everything done so I can have my surgery.I'm a little disappointed that it won't happen as quickly as I thought it would. I am guessing/hoping by October I'll be ready for surgery. I got my first doctor visit in already, and called the doctor for the psych evaluation but she's gone until Tuesday so that will hopefully happen next week.  My food/nutrition classes don't start until August so I have to sit back and wait for that. So much of the process is just waiting things out. Drives.Me.Crazy.

We did have a wonderful time out last night with friends. Everytime we do this we come away saying that we must do it more often. I hope we do. Good friends should never be taken for granted! Thank you Lisa, Kim,Del and Karen for always being so easy to be with.

I also got good news from my ex that we got an offer on our house! I hope this ones goes thru and we can be done with that chapter of our lives. I miss that house and loved it very much but have felt for many years now that if I couldn't live in it I didn't really want him to either...that may or may not be a good way to think but it is what it is.

I am going to take a deep breath, talk Vic into going to the beach today and try to recharge for next week.

Before I go I send out prayers to all involved in the terrible movie theater shooting Friday in Colorado. I can't even wrap my brain around how someone does that...:(

Here a few pictures I took this week. Something I saw at my doctors office, a wonderful dish from Tropical Thai Restaurant in Sarasota, and a few pictures we took while junk shopping at Sarasota Salvage...a very cool place!!

Seen at my doctors office, remember Y2k?

Tropical Thai in Sarasota

Sarasota Salvage

Date Night on Friday the 13th

Tonight we had our "Date Night". We took off from work and went to the mall. I guess it has been a very long time since I have been to the mall because not only has the name changed (used to be Sarasota Square, now it's Westfield) but the whole dang mall and movie theatres have changed!

We didn't have much time but had not had lunch or dinner so we stopped in Ruby Tuesdays for a quick bite. We had the salad bar and split an appetizer. The salads were awesome..everything was so fresh! The appetizer we spit was a chicken quesidella -and quite remarkably the best one I've ever had!! It is one of my favorite things and I've had them everywhere so this is a big deal!

We made it out of there in less than half an hour and went over to the movies just minutes to spare before our movie started. I wanted to see Bridesmaids, and Vic was the good sport and said ok! We both laughed our butts off ...it's a total smile and laugh kind of movie.

When we were done with the movie it was still early so we wandered around the mall. I had worked at that very mall for years back in my 20s but it is so different now that I barely recognized it! We walked through the food court and got free samples. They worked because Vic ended up getting some orange chicken dish from one of the Chinese places. I had a bite and it was surprisingly good.

 I had the most fun just people watching! Living in a town with the average age of 67 (seriously it is, the census results were posted a few weeks ago!) it was nice to see teenagers and young kids all over the place! We walked around and in a few of the shops but headed home by 8:30 so we could take care of the fur children that had been home all day. I'd say it was a GREAT Date Night and looking forward to doing it again soon!

Day 24 in the 30 Day Blog Journal

Day 24: Where you live.

I live in southwest Florida. About an hour south of Tampa in a beautiful town called Venice. I work in Sarasota on Siesta Key and love the beautiful white sand beaches!  I have not always lived in such paradise. I was born in North Dakota, have lived in Ill.,Nebraska,MN,GA and grew up in a small town in Missouri (Moberly, have you heard of it?) Anyway...here are some pictures of the area I live in..

Photo Credit on this one goes to my dear friend Emma Lisa Gordy

Blog What You Know

I've been brainstorming lately and checking out ways to make money doing something that I have a passion for. (Writing,blogging, making videos and photography) In many of my searches it was suggested to do paid reviews on my blog. I've signed up for a few but have not heard anything back yet. The more I got to thinking about it the more I'd like to do blogs/reviews on all things local. Local businesses, events, people. I live in Venice, work in Sarasota (Siesta Key) and have been a consumer/business owner/resident for over 25 years. I love the beautiful area that we live in and can not say enough good things about our community!

If you would like me to dedicate a blog to your business or event please drop me an email hollylingley@gmail.com I'd love to hear from you! 

No Oil In Sarasota County

If you've watched the news at all lately I am sure you've seen the oil covered birds and tarballs on the beaches and even news of the oil reaching the beaches here in Florida. Let me start by saying we have NO OIL on our white sandy beaches here in Sarasota County Florida. Had to get that out there incase you don't finish reading.

We just had friends visit from Oregon and were surprised to hear that when they told their friends that they were coming to Florida to visit most of their friends questioned why they would want to come to a place where tarballs were washing ashore. It is much like hurricane season, if you watch the news it would appear all of Florida will be blown away when generally one single storm only affects a few counties.

From someone that makes a living on tourism in our area I am constantly watching the news and visiting the beaches. I spent last weekend on the beaches here and paid close attention to every rock washed up on the beach, I even smelled the sand and swam in the water. We have no oil here. As I watched the pretty white egrets land around me I couldn't help but feel a little sad for the areas that are dealing with this nasty oil spill right now.

If you are planning to vacation here, and I hope you are! Check into trip insurance. I know the oil spill is a man made problem and not a covered reason to cancel your plans but check into "Cancel for any reason" coverage. I googled trip insurance and found several companies.

I will continue to post updates on my facebook page, company website and blogs. I hope that you will continue coming to the beach!

http://findsiestakeyrentals.com/siesta_key_blog/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/HomeandCondoRentals

http://www.findsiestakeyrentals.com/