Last week we celebrated Stephen's best friend's birthday with him, his girl Nikki and some other friends at Cheesecake Factory. It was good times! Happy Birthday Z!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Happy Birthday Z!
Last week we celebrated Stephen's best friend's birthday with him, his girl Nikki and some other friends at Cheesecake Factory. It was good times! Happy Birthday Z!
Our New Patio
As I mentioned in a previous blog, Stephen and I decided to build on to our patio. We doubled the size of it, added a sidewalk to Buddy's kennel, a sidewalk to our gate, poured slab for our trash cans and an area for the BBQ pit. And, a new patio isn't near as exciting as a new patio with new patio furniture, thanks babe!;) It's finished and we are absolutely loving it! Stephen and I even had a little camp out one night and spent the night out on our new lounge, it was so much fun! =) Here are some pics of the finished product.
Dad Mota's Birthday
We celebrated Dad Mota's birthday July 10th. We had mom Mota's delicious enchiladas at Steph and Gene's house and continued the celebration with yummy cake and lot's of gifts. It was a great evening! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! =)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
4th of July
We had another wonderful 4th of July out at the lakehouse! This year we celebrated with family. Stephen's parents, Steph, Gene and my mom all met us out there for lots of fun in the sun and fabulous fireworks. We even managed to get in a little fishing. Stephen and Gene were are star fishermen of the trip! It was good times!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Mota's + June = BUSY BUSY!
As I mentioned in the last post, we have had a lot going on these last couple of months. Since our trip to Italy, it feels like we've been going 100mph, so we have a lot to update you all on.
As soon as we got back from our trip to Italy we had a super fun concert we attended...we got to go to the opening of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington and see Lee Ann Womack, Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire and the Great George Strait! We went with my mom, a few of her friends and Drew and Shelly. It was a phenomenal concert! All of the performers were outstanding and it was just so cool to be at the stadium for the grand opening. We even got to see them open the roof! What a fun night!
The week we got back from Italy was also my last week at Publicis. I had five and a half wonderful years in the advertising industry, but decided that I wanted to go client side. After receiving an incredible offer with Dr. Pepper Snapple Group as a Program Manager it was time to open a new chapter in my life on the client side. Eek! All of my wonderful friends at Publicis threw an awesome going away party for me. Here are a few of the fun pics from that night.
As soon as we got back from our trip to Italy we had a super fun concert we attended...we got to go to the opening of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington and see Lee Ann Womack, Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire and the Great George Strait! We went with my mom, a few of her friends and Drew and Shelly. It was a phenomenal concert! All of the performers were outstanding and it was just so cool to be at the stadium for the grand opening. We even got to see them open the roof! What a fun night!
The week we got back from Italy was also my last week at Publicis. I had five and a half wonderful years in the advertising industry, but decided that I wanted to go client side. After receiving an incredible offer with Dr. Pepper Snapple Group as a Program Manager it was time to open a new chapter in my life on the client side. Eek! All of my wonderful friends at Publicis threw an awesome going away party for me. Here are a few of the fun pics from that night.
In June we also decided to build on to our patio. We extended it, added two sidewalks and bought some new fun patio furniture. Here's a picture of Izzy relaxing on the new lounge.
With all of the June excitement, Steve and I realized we hadn't had much time just the two of us. So, we decided to have a fun little date night at Razoos, complete with the fishbowl Gator Punch! =) It was a fun night!
We had some old college friends come in town for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It's always great to catch up with old friends. Ashley and Kyle came in town for lot's of chatting, games, laughter and some fun in the sun at the pool. Good times!
In June we also celebrated Father's Day! We are so lucky and thankful to have both of our father's in our lives. Unfortunately, we can't travel Texas in a day to share the day with both of them, so after making phone calls we managed to make it across the street to at least see one of them. We had a fun day with the Mota's! =)
Father's Day always brings back the fond memories of other fathers who we can no longer call. Grandpa and Dee, I know you all celebrated Father's Day with our Heavenly Father this year. I can only imagine how amazing that is, but know that we love and miss you all dearly!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
2009 Trip to Italy
It has been a while since I posted last, and quite a bit has happened in the last month. One of the biggest things was our trip to Italy. Stephen and I decided to plan a trip to Italy and then decided that it would be more fun to have a group go, so we invited both of our families. My mom, her best friend Carol, Mom and Dad Mota, Steph, Gene, Stephen and I all headed to Europe for a trip of a lifetime! What a dream come true! It was truly amazing and everything you could possibly think it would be!
Our journey started out in Rome. In Rome we fit in just about as much as you can in 3days. We went from sun up to sun down (and later a few nights). I don't think you could possibly see Rome in anything less than 3 days. It was truly amazing and our favorite tourist/site seeing destination.
Day 1 in Rome: We arrived and went to the Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and Campo De Fiori
Day 2 in Rome: We started our day at the Borghese Gallery and then went on a 4 hour tour of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Cathedral (all of which were absolutely breath taking).
Day 3 in Rome: We went on a tour of the Catacombs, to the Colosseum and to the Roman Forum. We ended the night with another stop in Campo De Fiori.
Every evening ended with fantastic dinners, wonderful company and great vino! 
From Rome we had quite the busy day. We took the train to Naples and to Pompeii. We visited Mt. Vesusius (the only volcano on the European mainland that has erupted in the last 100 years and it's still active) It even put on a little show for us while we were there. We also did lots of shopping! Although it was beautiful and quite the view, this was probably our least favorite stop of the trip. We ended the day with a train ride on to Florence.
Florence was absolutely stunning! Tuscany and the countryside was our most beautiful destination filled with vineyards and olive tree groves. Pictures just can't do it justice, but it was incredible!
Day 1 in Florence: We went to the Uffizi Gallery and to the Academia (saw the Statue of David). After that we did what we do best and shopped some more! We found some fabulous Italian leather coats that we had to try on and hold our own fashion show! That night we had one of the many fabulous dinners. In Florence we had our favorite dinner of the entire trip at a place called Il Latini. It was a traditional Tuscan style dinner, complete with several courses and several different wines. Lot's of fun and absolutely delicious!
Day 2 in Florence: We took an early train over to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa that morning. After running to catch our train back to Florence, we barely made our bus to the Vineyard. The vineyard took us to a beautiful castle in the middle of Tuscany where we tasted wine, toured the winery and took lot's of pictures of the beautiful scenery.
The next morning we hopped another train on to Milan. Upon arrival we managed to get in the Duomo Cathedral and the La Scala Opera House. Our main priority in Milan was of course to SHOP! So we did lot's of that! The next day in Milan we went to see the Last Supper at Santa Maria Delle Grazie which was quite an amazing site to see! Truly magnificent. 
That evening we took the train on to Venice for a late night arrival. Venice was our favorite destination to visit. It was just super cool. Everything about it was different than America. No streets, just canals going everywhere. It was truly a site to see and it looked like it was pulled straight from the pictures you see. So fun!
Day 1 in Venice: We shopped until we dropped! We saw Rialto Bridge, went to St. Marks Basilica, St. Marks Square, Doge's Palace and of course took a gondola ride!
Day 2 in Venice: Did some more shopping! =)
After Venice we headed back to Rome for one final stop in Campo De Fiori and caught an early flight out the next day to get back to the real world.
It was definitely a trip of a lifetime that we will never forget! CHING-CHING!
Our journey started out in Rome. In Rome we fit in just about as much as you can in 3days. We went from sun up to sun down (and later a few nights). I don't think you could possibly see Rome in anything less than 3 days. It was truly amazing and our favorite tourist/site seeing destination.
Day 1 in Rome: We arrived and went to the Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and Campo De Fiori
Day 2 in Rome: We started our day at the Borghese Gallery and then went on a 4 hour tour of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Cathedral (all of which were absolutely breath taking).
Day 3 in Rome: We went on a tour of the Catacombs, to the Colosseum and to the Roman Forum. We ended the night with another stop in Campo De Fiori.
Every evening ended with fantastic dinners, wonderful company and great vino! 
From Rome we had quite the busy day. We took the train to Naples and to Pompeii. We visited Mt. Vesusius (the only volcano on the European mainland that has erupted in the last 100 years and it's still active) It even put on a little show for us while we were there. We also did lots of shopping! Although it was beautiful and quite the view, this was probably our least favorite stop of the trip. We ended the day with a train ride on to Florence.
Florence was absolutely stunning! Tuscany and the countryside was our most beautiful destination filled with vineyards and olive tree groves. Pictures just can't do it justice, but it was incredible!Day 1 in Florence: We went to the Uffizi Gallery and to the Academia (saw the Statue of David). After that we did what we do best and shopped some more! We found some fabulous Italian leather coats that we had to try on and hold our own fashion show! That night we had one of the many fabulous dinners. In Florence we had our favorite dinner of the entire trip at a place called Il Latini. It was a traditional Tuscan style dinner, complete with several courses and several different wines. Lot's of fun and absolutely delicious!
Day 2 in Florence: We took an early train over to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa that morning. After running to catch our train back to Florence, we barely made our bus to the Vineyard. The vineyard took us to a beautiful castle in the middle of Tuscany where we tasted wine, toured the winery and took lot's of pictures of the beautiful scenery.
The next morning we hopped another train on to Milan. Upon arrival we managed to get in the Duomo Cathedral and the La Scala Opera House. Our main priority in Milan was of course to SHOP! So we did lot's of that! The next day in Milan we went to see the Last Supper at Santa Maria Delle Grazie which was quite an amazing site to see! Truly magnificent. 
That evening we took the train on to Venice for a late night arrival. Venice was our favorite destination to visit. It was just super cool. Everything about it was different than America. No streets, just canals going everywhere. It was truly a site to see and it looked like it was pulled straight from the pictures you see. So fun!Day 1 in Venice: We shopped until we dropped! We saw Rialto Bridge, went to St. Marks Basilica, St. Marks Square, Doge's Palace and of course took a gondola ride!
Day 2 in Venice: Did some more shopping! =)After Venice we headed back to Rome for one final stop in Campo De Fiori and caught an early flight out the next day to get back to the real world.
It was definitely a trip of a lifetime that we will never forget! CHING-CHING!
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